The Forbidden Year
by Knowing what fuzzy means
Summary: No one was allowed to talk about the 73rd Hunger Games. You had the lethal careers, who'd been trained from birth to fight, the odd few from the other districts who were too good for being untrained and the ones that survived even when no one understood how they could. Why were they forbidden? Watch as the events of The Forbidden Year unfold.
1. Reaping

_Hey everyone, guess who it is! Yeah you guessed it, we're back for more._

**The story of the 73****rd**** Hunger Games**

_Shh, Selina, we're not supposed to talk about it. Didn't you hear? It's forbidden._

***Insert face palm here* Can we just get to the story?**

_Sure thing. Yay, violence *evil laugh*_

**Oh Lord, this is why I should have let her torture people earlier in Narnia**

_You're looking forward to it as well. Don't deny it._

**Shut up Ally!**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter One: Reaping<strong>

'Mummy come on! We'll be late for the reaping!'

In the crowded square of District One, the young man was forced to lurch sideways glaring ahead of him. A little girl had broken free of her mother and run ahead, and the mother had nearly bowled him over trying to catch her. He gritted his teeth holding back the sigh of exasperation and shook his head to himself. How was he the only one who hated this day?

There was something inherently depressing about how excited the people around him were. It seemed to go straight over the heads of the other District One citizens just what today would be choosing. Twenty three children sent to be slaughtered and one to be psychologically tortured for the rest of their life after being forced to murder. Yet they were putting on their best clothes, fixing their hair and chatting excitedly waiting for it all to begin.

He knew he probably had a unique perspective on the proceedings of the day; both of his parents were victors. He may have seen the glory they and the others in the Victors Village were showered with. They were financially supported for the rest of their lives; heroes and celebrities in the eyes of the rest of the world. But he had also heard his mother walking aimlessly around the house in the middle of the night, unable to shake the dreams that haunted her. And he knew all too well of his father's inability to handle even the slightest crack of lighting in the air. They were proud people, they would never speak out against the games, but he had seen what their experiences did to them.

'Hi Orion,' came a synchronised purr from nearby.

Shimmer and Glimmer appeared on either side of him, the identical blonde twins fluttering their eyelashes at him flirtatiously. He gave them an awkward look as Glimmer stroked his arm and Shimmer planted a kiss on his cheek. He pulled his arms out of their possessive grips and disappeared into the crowd as fast as his legs would carry him. He sniffed his shirt slightly, picking up the overpowering scent of their perfumes that stuck to him despite the brief contact. Why would those girls not leave him alone? The fact that they were both set to volunteer today ensured his dislike. Their superficial personalities only intensified his general loathing of the two girls. Quite frankly their presence alone induced the urge to slam his head into a wall.

He found himself in the line for sign in, and after a few moments he got to the front. His finger was pricked by the peacekeeper who just smiled at him, recognising the family name. Instantly he jumped to the same conclusion that everyone else pushed on him, that he'd be volunteering today.

'Good luck Mr Ehra,' the Peacekeeper said, but Orion's glare very quickly told him to keep his mouth shut.

He was almost grateful to be so close to the back of the square as he fell into the line of seventeen year old boys. But a few of them looked at him, clapped him on the back and shoved him further to the front of the pack looking encouraging. Like everyone else they all expected him to volunteer. No matter how many times he had insisted he had no intention to. He was probably surrounded by at least a dozen guys who were planning to, and those were just the boys from his age group. He buried the inclination to bang his head into a nearby wall and looked over at his best and one of his only friend's Onyx. Giving him a perplexed look, curious at how he'd gotten stuck up here.

His friend just shrugged in response and jerked his head towards the platform as Orion hung his head noticing the Mayor and the escort taking to the stage. Followed of course by the long trail of victors, the two who had died since their victories were being displayed on the screens. If the consensus he should volunteer wasn't enough, he could see his own parents taking the stage, waving to the crowd. Two of the twelve victors District One had amassed over the years. Throw in his grandfather who begrudgingly acknowledged the crowd and the image of his great-grandfather on the screen… The tremendous amount of pressure building up in his system was starting to refuse to let him ignore it.

'Welcome District One! Welcome!'

'Here we go...' he muttered.

He stared at the human imitation that was the Capitol lady on the stage. Epsilon had been in charge of this district for around two years, and somehow had become more plastic since the last time she was here. Her silver hair, multi coloured eyelashes and hoop skirt made her appear like an alien. He could see a few of the twelve year olds in the front rows look scared at the sight of her. Not that he blamed them; the Capitolites were just generally creepy.

'Welcome!' she cried again in her high pitched accent, 'to the Seventy Third Hunger Games!'

At this the entire crowd launched into a plethora of applause, he once again made a face and looked around him. He was the only one not clapping as far as he could see. This only lead him to contemplate whether if he grabbed one of the nearby peacekeepers guns, he'd be shot by another. It seemed better than living through this stupid event for the fifth time.

'It is an honour for me to call forward the noble tributes who shall have the coveted task of representing their District this year. Shall we begin with the gentleman?'

More cheering rang out at this, and he could hear a few shrill screams of approval from the female section. Onyx just nudged him, looking excited, he'd been planning to volunteer for months now. Orion merely gave him an all too familiar look of "you have a death wish," and turned to face the front as Epsilon tottered in her high heels to crystal reaping bowl. There was a dramatic pause as she delicately reached in, extracting a small slip of paper before sauntering back to the microphone.

'Representing District One… Platinum Montague!'

There was a sufficient amount of applause at this as the fourteen year old took the stage, but it was nowhere near what it had been previously, for one simple reason. Everyone knew that it wouldn't be him who would face the arena. No, the district was far too competitive to allow that even if he was a decent archer. It was then that Epsilon asked the districts favourite question.

'Do we have any volunteers who'd like to take his place?' but the sentence had barely left her lips when the loud outcries began.

'I volunteer as tribute!'

…

The word reaping alone was taboo in District Seven. They understood what the day meant, decreeing which two families would never see their child again. District Seven wasn't the most barren of places for victors; in fact in the earlier years of the Hunger Games the district's experience with axes brought quite a few home. But now in the age of the careers, only five still survived. And only one of them even bothered to show up to the reaping's anymore.

The perspective that the district took on the Hunger Games was enough to dissuade even the gutsiest of people from wanting to volunteer. In fact over the years, several had even committed suicide on the way there; choosing to die by their own hand opposed to someone else's. But this had stopped after the Capitol had developed a nasty habit of selecting either a sibling or a close friend to take their place, punishing them even in death for their defiance.

An angry looking teenager stood in a stare off match with a peace keeper, who continuously cleared his throat, holding out his hand to take the blood sample. The girl just glared at him evenly, and it wasn't until the man grabbed her arm and forcefully took it that any result was taken. With a haughty glare she continued into the town square that had been cleared of merchants for the day. A few younger people hastily scurried away as they noticed her nearby. She wasn't surprised, let alone did she seem to care falling into line with the other sixteen year old girls.

There was an instant reaction and several took a step away from her. They were all on edge as it was reaping day, and her appearance didn't make it any easier. She was hated in District Seven, and she hated them in return. A fact of which she made obvious due to her rather lengthy record of incidents of throwing things at peacekeepers and other civilians. And her most frequent target was currently taking the stage.

Her eyes met the Mayor's son with a challenging glare, the animosity between the two was borderline legendary. Toby had caught her stealing from his home when he they were only children. Yet despite the years which had passed since the incident which had her sentenced to a public flogging, the war had not ceased. He was now old enough not to be at risk of being reaped though he still looked grim and dignified as he took a seat beside his father. Noticing her looking at him he made a face at her and mouthed something which only made her direct a rude hand gesture at him. His suspicions were accurate of course; she had stolen the dress she was wearing. If she'd been asked though, she would have insisted it was borrowing without permission and with little intention to return. Besides, she hadn't even bothered to steal shoes; she wasn't being as much of a "thieving street rat," as she could have been.

The sound of a fingernail banging against the microphone was heard, and the shrill noise that followed made everyone flinch. But it wasn't the microphone; it was the voice of the Capitol women who spoke into it. Coloured in varying shades of purple from her skin, to her hair, to her clothing, Gertrude made the hit list of nearly everyone in the district. Seeing two children sentenced to death was not the most painful thing about reaping day since she showed up, it was her yammering.

'Hello District Seven! It is now time to begin this year's Hunger Games!'

The girl made an annoyed noise, not bothering to suppress it due to the fact she knew she wouldn't be on camera. In her second year of reaping's she'd been standing behind the twelve year old that had been selected to compete. The curse she'd let off had caused her to be tasered by a peacekeeper, and they weren't stupid enough to put a camera on her again.

'Shall we begin with the ladies?' she paused as if expecting applause only to be met with stony silence, before she turned to the reaping bowl on her right and delicately plunged her hand in and selected a name, 'This year's female tribute from District Seven is...'

The pause for effect was once again met with boredom from most, but the slight clenching in the heart of every girl who may be selected. Dead quiet fell over the district, even the constant chirping of birds had fallen away. Gertrude enjoyed the control for a moment or two longer than necessary before she read out the name that was embellished onto the scrap of paper.

'Lyrana Franklin.'

Every person in the square slowly turned around as the one person they were fine to get rid of was called. The cameras focusing on the face of the teenaged girl who hadn't quite processed it was her name being read out. But as everything around her seemed to freeze for a moment, she knew it was true. She was the one this year who'd been condemned to death.

…

A set of twin boys laughed loudly throwing a hat in between them as a slightly younger girl ran between them snatching at the air, 'Give it back you two!' she complained loudly.

The people of District Ten took no notice of the interaction, all too used to it from the younger members of the Vee family. They simply went about their business, pulling animals off the streets and into pens, and brushing the mud and hay off their clothes. The boys continued to laugh as their little sister leapt for the hat only to brush it with her fingertips and miss. But they stopped as they heard a sharp bark from their father.

'Hayden. Hunter. Give it back to her now. Show some respect for what day this is.'

Both boys' expressions blanched and one hastily placed the hat back on his sister's head, 'Sorry Astra.'

'You're not but okay,' she said smiling good naturedly and stuck her tongue out at him.

Her elder sister Sera came over to her and said 'Here let me fix your hair.'

'It's fine,' she said adjusting her hat but her sister just laughed and took it out of her hands.

Astra giggled as Sera attempted to smooth the blonde frizz that was starting to pop up along the crown of her head regardless but as usual it refused to stay down and she was left to comment, 'And that's why you're wearing the hat.'

'I'm wearing the hat because I like the hat but sure let's go with that.'

'Come on,' Sera sighed, 'Let's go sign in.'

The sisters held out their hands in front of the nearby peacekeeper table and while Sera just took it without complaint, Astra made a little squeak of annoyance, 'Why would you do that to me? That's just mean!'

Sera smirked before pulling her along, 'Don't terrorise the peace keepers sis, now stand in line with the other girls your age. I'll find you after the reaping's over okay?'

'Deal.'

'And no singing.'

'No promises,' Astra smiled, before falling into line with the other fifteen year old girls and finding a friend.

Rini smiled at her anxiously, but then instantly looked away as Astra's nervous response was to do exactly what her sister had just told her not to do. But her voice slowly faded away as the Capitol Escort took the stage. Staring at her in fear, the usual smile wiped clean from her face.

'Welcome District Ten to the Seventy Third Hunger Games!' Druella announced sauntering forward, fake yellow hair gleaming in the sunlight, 'It is simply an honour to be here to select this year's tributes!'

This was only met with silence, District Ten held disdain at the very least for the Capitol, and the women's patronising smile only made it grow increasingly more, 'Shall we begin with the boys?' she offered happily.

Astra looked around to where Hayden and Hunter were standing, begging internally that neither would get drawn, or that they would have the good sense not to start heckling. The only relief she had was that her three other elder brothers had already grown old enough not to be at risk, one even missing out by a few days. She stared at the slip of paper in Druella's hands, as she slowly unfolded the slip, pausing for dramatic effect as she read out the two words that would forever change a family:

'Horace Tornake.'

She watched in sadness as the slight thirteen year old boy shivered and walked up the stage, face having drained of all colour in an instant. He stood beside Druella, positively shaking, the only respectable thing he could do was not weep uncontrollably. But the Capitol women took no notice of this, congratulated him and walked to the other reaping bowl and selected another scrap of paper. She glanced behind her at Sera, continuing her internal pleading that her sister would not be selected. Though her worry for Sera was short lived, as the one thing she hadn't stopped to consider happened, as Druella read out the words:

'Astra Vee.'

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><p><strong>It shall soon begin. The 73<strong>**rd**** annual Hunger Games. *insert dramatic music***

_*puts on stupid imitation of Capitol accent* May the odds be ever in your favour_

**Oh for God's sake *face wall***

_Why do you get a wall but Orion doesn't?_

**Because he was standing in the middle of the crowd. It's logic.**

_Oh_

**Well the update should be pretty soon seeing as we're on holidays, but it would help if you reviewed.**

**~Selina**

_Review peoples_

_:) Ally_

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><p><strong><em>Updated: 266/14_**


	2. How could it be me?

**BOOM! We're back**

_Already? Wow._

**Well due to the fact we don't have lives Al, of course we're back this early.**

_I do have a life. It's just very small and I spend most of it LaLa land_

**And now that you being half fish has stopped due to a faulty joint, I guess you have an even smaller one than usual. Shall we proceed to the reaping square Ally? Maybe Orion might have found himself a wall.**

_Yes we must put the poor boy out of his misery soon_

Chapter Two: How could it be me?

As the volunteering shouts died down there was a moment of silence as everyone stared at the Capitol escort. It was her job to discern who had cried out first. No one could quite tell given the loud plethora of outcries, especially from the three elder age groups. Epsilon seemed to identify it with ease, as she whispered to the man in charge of the cameras who to direct them at.

'You there, you were first,' she said pointing through the crowd.

Orion looked around wildly as he suddenly saw his face appear on the screen and a deafening amount of applause rang out through the square. He blinked in confusion, he really hadn't intended to say anything, and he really didn't remember doing that. But he just knew that he had. His father had been training him for years for this moment and despite his insistence that he would not do it, instinct must have taken control. He was trapped now.

Trying to ignore the scandalized look of betrayal on the other volunteers' faces he walked down the aisle among the shrill cheering of the district. He wasn't sure how he was remaining so calm, he hadn't meant to do this. He knew he had now, but cursing both his instincts and his reflexes would get him nowhere. He just kept his face blank and walked onto the gigantic stage. Platinum grinned at him looking excited to know he'd be taking his place. At the same time there was a small light of temptation in his eyes, as if he was tempted to refuse to step down. Orion mentally tried to urge him to, but he remained ignorant and walked down to the bottom of the stairs to wait for the end of the reaping.

'What's your name?' Epsilon asked, smiling at him encouragingly, seeming to have at least noticed the shell shocked state he was in.

'Orion Ehra.'

He wasn't sure how he'd sounded so bloody calm when he was saying it but the applause was sheerly deafening. The camera then turned to look at his victor parents and grandfather who he knew were seating all of two meters away from him but he didn't dare look back. He stared at their images on the screen. His father for once in his life looked proud of something Orion had done. His grandfather looked slightly confused, though somewhat emotionless, knowing all too well that Orion had not planned for this to occur. While his mother hid it well, the look in her eyes was one of pure misery. Some hadn't known his relation to the victors, and the applause escalated even louder. He felt his stomach turn, and keeping his face blank was all he had the energy to do.

'Very good, now it's time for the ladies,' the escort announced and walked past him to the other reaping bowl as more cheering rang out, 'Topaz Elliston!'

The announcement of this name received even less applause then Platinum had. He at the very least was a good archer. This chubby, sweaty girl that stood on stage next to him for a moment however was only good at tying knots. She didn't want to go, and she wouldn't go. The younger girl looked up at him, as if trying to find some assurance that someone would volunteer for her. He gave her as kind a look as possible, but it wasn't easy with the fear that had set into his stomach.

Clearly the look hadn't been what he intended it to be as she hurriedly glanced away looking more nervous than ever. Orion was forced to admit that given what she probably knew about him, she was not going to understand any attempt he offered to comfort her. He wasn't the type to pick fights, but he had been involved in a few when encountering the egos of others. There was very rarely a mark on him, but what he'd ended up doing to others had earned him a rather brutal reputation.

Topaz was ignored by Epsilon though, who was taking a long moment for dramatic effect as she repeated the districts favourite question, 'Do we have any volunteers?'

'I volunteer as tribute.'

This time Orion could tell who'd been first; he recognised the voice that had offered herself a heartbeat before the others. Even as Epsilon pointed to her, Shimmer's blonde head was already working her way through the crowd, knowing she'd done it. She strutted self-righteously down the aisle amongst the overpowering cheers of the district, blowing kisses and beaming brilliantly. She took to the stage while Orion looked around for the nearest brick wall to slam his head into. It was one thing to send him into the arena which was virtually a death sentence, but it was another thing to force him to live out his remaining days with Shimmer of all people.

Everyone was from noticing the pained expression on his face though as with barely any prompting from Epsilon she introduced herself tossing her hair back, 'I am Shimmer Brillo.'

He suppressed a groan. Of course it was her. Of course it bloody had to be her. Topaz scurried off the stage to stand with Platinum, while Orion contemplated what angle he'd have to hit his head at to die jumping off the stage.

Shimmer not knowing his thoughts directed a less than subtle wink in his direction, which only made Orion try to do the math faster. His interactions with the Brillo twins were never pleasant. The two girls were among the most attractive in the district, he could admit that, but their inflated egos indicated they knew it all too well. Vain, self-indulging, vicious and unable to take the hint that he would rather swallow a wrench whole then spend a moment more than necessary in their company.

At this point he was directed to shake her hand, which he did begrudgingly. As the cheers rang out and the Treaty of Treason begun to be read, he wondered if there was a discreet way to wipe his hand of her germs while on camera. But then his thoughts turned to just what he had gotten himself into. He was now a tribute. Something he'd never wanted nor intended to be.

Many arguments and periods of silent treatment had resulted between himself and his father due to his insistence he'd never volunteer. After he hadn't offered himself up last year his mother had been forced to intervene when his father seemed ready to thrash him for it. He had well and truly made his father proud with this move. He still did not understand how he'd volunteered. He now remembered the words leaving his lips, but his brain had not comprehended their meaning or the implications of what was to come.

The words from the treaty finished and Epsilon took each of them by the hand leading them off stage as the ear shattering ovation rang out. The clapping and cheering sounded like a funeral to him, but Shimmer was practically skipping next to him. As they were pulled into city hall, they were allowed a moment to breathe. As he took a moment to internally kick himself Shimmer piped up:

'Looks like it'll be you and me honey,' she purred, putting her hand on her shoulder, 'don't worry; I'll play nice if you do.'

He gave her an uncomfortable smile, before holding out his finger indicating he needed a moment. And with no shame to the amount of peacekeepers and Capitol officials watching him he began slamming his head against the nearest wall.

…

She was frozen in fear, heart rising in her throat. It couldn't be her. But the terror pounding through her chest and paralysing her limbs confirmed the nightmare was real. Hadn't she suffered enough? How was this even real? Fear radiated through her system, and her ribs seemed to contract to the point she could barely breathe.

Everyone in the square continued to stare at her, and her bitter thoughts pointed out just how well this had gone for them. They were ridding themselves of a "violent criminal" not someone with any friends to speak of. She may have had a family but they highly doubted her drug addict parents would even know she was gone. She was the perfect person to send in as a tribute. This couldn't have gone better if they'd voted her in.

'Lyrana Franklin,' Gertrude read again, not seeming to have a clue why she couldn't see her tribute.

At this moment more and more of the crowd backed away from her creating a wider radius than ever. Cameras began to be focused in on her, her face blown up on the big screen why she just stared at it uncomprehendingly. She tried to force herself to move, show a little self-respect about this, but she just couldn't get herself to take a step towards the platform.

The peacekeepers started to approach her, intending to take her up there whether she liked it or not. As one went to grab her arm she forcefully pushed them away and began taking hesitant steps towards the stage. All eyes focused in on her, and she found herself slowly walking up the stairs, knees threatening to buckle under her any second. Though the gasps and whispers suddenly picked up; she was too busy trying to stay standing to notice anything else.

From his seat on stage, Toby was starting to get up. His mother pulled frantically at his sleeve, but he was ignoring her, gaze firmly fixated on the terrified girl. She had made it to the top of the stairs but seemed incapable of going any further. She was shaking like a leaf and there was no colour left in her face. As several peacekeepers looked at each other aggregately and started to move to fetch her, Toby spoke up.

'Lyra.'

The mayor looked in confusion at his son, not understanding his reaction to the girl who had so often injured him. Lyra slowly looked up from where she stood; swaying slightly as she looked at Toby, trying to figure out what it was that she could possibly do. The confusion was not limited to those on stage when Toby walked towards her and pulled her into his arms.

Lyra froze once more, quivering in her spot, but the fear of what was to come was too overwhelming for her to handle and she buried her head in his chest. Her shaky breathing and a few tears she couldn't control muffled by his shirt. She didn't want him to comfort her, she didn't want his pity. But the emotionally unstable part of her brain won over, and she just stood there in his embrace as if it would protect her from the horrors of her existence. She slowly looked up at him, eyes asking him despite her better judgement what on earth she could do. He slowly dropped his arms from around her, and nodded slightly, and seeming almost desperate to, he went back to his seat.

Still feeling as terrified and as misplaced as ever she took the last few remaining steps to the centre of the stage. Gertrude was dabbing at non-existent tears with an overly lacy handkerchief, and Lyra was left to internally comment that the Capitol woman was more hideous up close. She waited a moment for the crowd to settle before asking her rather patronizingly:

'Are you alright Leerayna?' she asked clearly have forgotten her name already

'It's Lyrana or Lyra, one or the other. You're condemning me to death you might as well get my name right,' she spat out against her better judgement.

Gertrude looked deeply offended and Lyra suddenly just nodded to herself and took a deep breath in. The shock was wearing off and the ever present feeling of stubbornness was kicking in. Despite every instinct in her system telling her she was dead meat, the rest of her was saying take the bastards down with you. The Capitol escort, still looking affronted, crossed in front of her to the other bowl, selecting another scrap of paper.

'And joining Miss Franklin will be...' she took a dramatic pause, but Lyra read the name over her shoulder and felt her heart sink slightly, 'Isaac Thornton.'

She could hear a loud sobbing outcry from his mother in the audience, as the eighteen year old boys all turned to look at the tribute from among them. One year left and it had trapped him, the one person who'd never been rude to anybody in his life, and he was the one to join her. She knew about Ike, he seemed like a generally good person and that was a lot coming from her of all people. Quite frankly he was a sweetheart, but he seemed positively broken as he walked up the stairs.

He stood beside her, staring out over the audience. She could see the tears in his eyes, and the tremors running through his system. He hadn't made the same fuss she had, but there was no doubt he was as equally terrified. Despite her usual disdain for people in general, she gripped his hand slightly, but when she went to take it back he just fitted his fingers into hers and held it there. He gave her a weak smile, and she found herself returning it. For a moment she almost fooled herself into feeling safe, but the rationale part of her brain knew she'd never be safe again.

…

The cold fear shocked through her system as the cameras focused in on her pale and worried face. Trying to keep it together, she began making her slow way to the platform as her head nearly exploded from her internal wailing. She didn't know how people were supposed to do this, merely accept their fate for what it was. Every atom of her wanted scream, cry or run away, but somehow she was supposed to slap on a brave face and act like nothing was wrong.

She could hear murmuring in the crowd, they were beginning to talk. She knew exactly what they were talking about but she just couldn't handle thinking about that. The only thing she had the strength for was to clamber up the rickety stairs and onto the platform. She stood there, head bowed; trying not to fall apart as she heard an outcry erupt from the audience.

'We volunteer! We volunteer!'

Druella looked up excitedly, as if something exciting had finally happened in District Ten, but much to her surprised, Hayden and Hunter were the ones shouting out. Her twin older brothers were leaping up and down in the isle hollering out desperately. They looked positively ridiculous, and Astra could also hear the snickers building up in the audience. Even if it was allowed she couldn't possibly let one of the twins take her place, so she grabbed the microphone:

'Hayden, Hunter! You're boys!'

Both twins could see what Astra was trying to do, and neither were going to back down that easily, 'who said we're boys?!' Hayden yelled.

'Who knows, we might be girls!'

'Sexist!'

At this moment her brothers adopted their best approximation of teenage girl stances, flicking back the little hair they had and standing as if they were trying to show off "curves." Astra stared at her brothers miserably, she loved them, she did. That was why, even if the Capitol would accept one of them in her place, she couldn't let them do it. Both boys kicked and yelled abuse as they were picked up by peacekeepers and dragged away. Though just when Astra thought it was over, someone else spoke up.

'They may not be able to volunteer for you but I can!'

Astra recognised the voice and flinched heavily when she heard the desperation in her sister's tone. Sera had emerged from the back and was determinedly walking forward. Once again she just couldn't bare it. She couldn't let her do this; Sera had been gored by a bull through her shoulder a few years ago. She could barely work let alone fight. She'd have no chance in the games. She just couldn't send her sister to her death, she couldn't.

'Sera no,' she said decisively, 'I won't let you do this, I've made my choice.'

'Astra-'

'No. You don't need me. I'm the runt of the litter remember? No matter which way this goes down… mum and dad lose another kid. And I will not let you do this because of me. I can't let you do that.'

Sera froze on the spot, her eyes clouding over with tears. She yelled out to Astra again but she was just forced to block it out, the same tears filling up her eyes. Eventually a few of her friends came and pulled her away, but Astra could still hear her screaming and crying. The audience was frozen, images of anger and misery spread on their faces. No one was happy with this year's tributes. A fragile thirteen year old boy, and an innocent girl whose family had already lost a child to the games. Neither were victor material, they were already as good as dead in the eyes of the district. Though there was nothing anyone could do and they were left to feel powerless as the Treaty of Treason was read. Astra stretched out and squeezed Horace's hand for comfort.

'Let's have a big round of applause for this year's tributes!' Druella sang.

But no one in the audience stirred, they just glared at the platform. There was only one person who clapped at all, and that was the mayor.

**Dear Happy Pogger: sorry we didn't state where Astra was from, we had a little slip up, sorry we'll check over our story more carefully next time.**

**Dear Little Bit Loopy: We're both positive you're stalking us but glad to hear your on board with us for this one.**

_Thank you very much our dear reviewers. And Selina is right. We shall be more careful in the future._

**So next we shall see even more of our Orion, Lyra and Astra, and learn more about the other tributes as well. Does anyone else already hate Shimmer? And feel sorry for Ike and Horace? If you don't already feel sorry for Horace feel sorry for that name. No offence to Horace's out there but I don't like the name.**

_I hate Shimmer, I hate Shimmer! And you have to admit Horace ain't the best of names._

**Ally why are you burning a Shimmer look alike voodoo doll?**

_Because I hate her..._

**...Oh dear, well before she tries to arrange for her demise other than what we have planned we're gonna have to go and start working on the awesomeness of our next chapter, love you guys, don't forget to review.**

**~Selina**

_Die Shimmer Die...oops, hehe, you're all watching me. Please, please review so we can post the next chapter really soon._

_:) Ally_

* * *

><p><strong>Updated: 266/14**


	3. Tributes

**We're back and better than ever.**

_Weren't we always brilliant?_

**Me? Yes. You? We'll have to work on that.**

_Oh, you did not just say that sister._

**Don't wave your diva hand at me, you're English, you can't pull it off!**

_It's on now_

**Well this won't take to long, you guys read the next installment, I can assure you by then one of us would have won or one of us would have gotten out an axe.**

**Chapter Three: Tributes**

**_District 2-_**

For the Capitol's favourite District, winning the Hunger Games was considered the highest honour one could achieve. Though unlike District One where everyone was trained and clambering to be in it, the people of District Two pre-selected their tributes. Every year there would be one tribute from either gender selected to volunteer, trained in a special academy from birth. They were completely deadly, trained in survival, combat; anything they could potentially need to outlive and murder anyone in the arena. This was common knowledge, and as a result the two people drawn from the reaping bowl were completely calm. They knew they wouldn't go anywhere near that arena: the glory was too coveted for that.

The first to volunteer was Kali Muetro, tall with well-defined muscles and a cold, calculating look in her eyes. Dressed in a red, figure hugging dress, it was all too clear she'd expected to be on television today. Her brunette locks hung smooth and obedient down her back, her skin tanned from the constant hours of training in the harsh sun. She gazed across the audience like a hawk, observing them like a god over mere mortals. Even as she smiled and waved at them, bathing in the applause, her pearly white grin was more like a sneer. She cared nothing for their adoration; it was just yet another confirmation that she was superior to them.

Her partner maintained the same prideful demeanour, Seir Vicioso, significantly tall with biceps that made his years of training far too obvious. They'd been dressed as a set, his shirt matching to the exact colour of her dress, marking them as a pair in the traditional tactic of District Two. His hair was cut short to a borderline buzz cut, emphasising his strong bone structure and making him look increasingly intimidating. He contemptuously watched the crowd, directing a smile at them that was all too clearly faked. He just wanted the games to begin already.

But as they shook hands at the direction of the Capitol escort, their identical leers made one thing all too clear. They knew exactly what they were doing going into the arena. Together they were serious contenders for the title of victor. They were completely and utterly deadly, and everyone knew it.

**_District 3-_**

The whole of the technology district was frozen in shock as it stared at its two newest tributes. The tiny children meant to represent their district in this blood match. Despite the compassion each one of them felt for the two innocent lives about to be sacrificed there was nothing they could do. Each person just silently accepting that they probably wouldn't make it a week, let alone out of the blood bath.

It had been a long time since District Three had a victor, thirty five years in fact. In the age of the career tributes, their positions on the pedestals alone put them at a disadvantage. They were interlocked between two districts who had trained their young people for this. The people of District Three however didn't have the experience to, let alone the funding. Any tribute that made it out alive had used their brain to do it, not their muscles. It had indeed been a long time since they had a victor, and looking at this year's tributes, another year would come to pass without one.

The tiny little girl selected was hiding behind the male tribute, only thirteen years of age and absolutely terrified of everything around her. Iris was quivering and shaking, sobbing uncontrollably till the tears splattered down onto her little purple dress. She clung to her violent red hair, crying out to someone who wasn't there to protect her. She was truly an innocent, a child with no bad intentions towards anybody, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop this.

Her respective partner wasn't dealing with it much better. Usually optimistic and cheerful, Sparky just stared into the distance, tears streaking down his pale face. He was commonly seen as a happy boy, the apple of his mother's eye. Adorable in every sense from his spiky blonde hair to the electric blue eyes he was named for. He had both arms wrapped around Iris, trying to give her some comfort despite him being only a year older than her and nearly as terrified.

The escort was trying to stop their crying, so they could shake hands and leave the platform. Though every time she tried Iris would begin to scream and wail until she was forced back into Sparky's arms. District Three was just forced to watch on in misery at their quivering tributes. All of them mutely agreed that neither child had a chance.

**_District Four-_**

The seaside district was on its feet, war cries ricocheting through the air as their two tributes arrived on stage. They clapped their hands, stomped their feet and sent whistles into the air. This year's volunteers just seemed to spell success. They weren't as fanatically obsessed with the games as the other two career districts, but nothing could trump the naturally competitive spirit of District Four.

A large portion of the crowd among its drumming and cheering, were yelling out the names of their tributes in synchronicity. Celebrating the glory they had no doubt was about to come. It may have only been two years since their last victor, but this time they were hoping for someone a little more respectable. Their tributes this year looked positively fearless and entirely undefeatable.

Lilith Terzo, a natural beauty by anyone's judgement, drunk in the worship of the crowd, tall and striking in a tight black dress that showed off every curve of her body. The strength in every limb was obvious, an exceedingly good swimmer even under the high standards of this District. Though what made her such a serious contender were her abilities in spearfishing. Rumour had it she could spear a mullet at night at forty paces, and that wasn't much of an exaggeration. Her husky blue eyes, watched the crowd, encouraging their applause, but the dangerous glint in her gaze was not to be underestimated.

Despite their extreme approval of Lilith, no one could discount the size and strength of the young man beside her. Botis Iniziale was the size of a bear, with the limbs to match it seeming easily capable of crushing a skull one handed. He was dressed all in black, staring emotionlessly at the crowd with dark eyes. Brutish in nature, everyone who had so much as heard of him knew he was completely and utterly ruthless. Having conceived methods to cull the shark population, he was well known and respected, but showed no respect for anyone in return. The only person he held anything other than

disdain for was his little sister, but she was a special case.

As they shook hands to the smattering applause of their district, they exchanged a glance that both clearly understood. They were allies for now, but would have no shame killing the other later.

**_District Five-_**

District Five was feeling more confident than they had in quite some time facing the games. However, it was for one reason and one reason only. Nakita Maxwell was going. She was the niece of a victor, and as a result she had been trained in combat. That meant she could win. Rupert however was a different case altogether; chances were he wouldn't last ten minutes. But they had some hope that someone just might come home.

Nakita stared wordlessly over the audience; she had never expected to be entered in the games. Though she was not crying, she seemed to know that unlike most other tributes, she was prepared. She was slim and gorgeous, with skin as pale and flawless as a milk flower. Her dark brown eyes and vivid red hair gave her the look of a tigress. She had been well-cared for in this life, but she was smart, capable and knew what she might have to do.

Rupert was staring blankly at the mildly approving crowd, though he knew that the approval and the applause beginning to pick up was not for him. They had no faith that he'd come back for one reason only, he was normal. He wasn't particularly smart or stupid, wasn't particularly attractive or ugly, not specifically popular but not hated. He was pure grey area, completely and utterly average. And the Capitol was only interested in those who were special, or could at least act like it.

For one of the least fortunate districts, the applause ringing out could be compared to the enthusiasm of those from the career districts. They finally had a chance.

**_District Six-_**

Even the stoned victors standing on stage knew what they were seeing before them was far from desirable as Tributes. Their names alone implied all too well the innocence that each was endowed with. They were cherished enough by their parents to have been named something as cutesy as Jinx and Belle, both tributes this year were likely to never return home.

The epitome of her name, Belle was sweet, innocent and caring; though she was strong enough not to cry several whimpers escaped her tiny lips. Her brunette hair was tied in bunches with pretty blue ribbons, that matched the crushed flowers in her hands that she had picked not ten minutes ago, assuring her worrying mother she would not be reaped. But now her smile had disappeared as she stared wordlessly over the crowd, trying to figure out how she was to come to terms with this.

Her partner Jinx did not share her sadness, though the mischievous glint in his eyes had vanished. He just looked angry as he processed his grief. His messy brown hair stuck up at all angles, his bright brown eyes surrounded by overlong lashes made him look innocent. Though it had vanished in an instant; knowing what was coming for him.

The two wordlessly shook hands at the direction of their escort. Though even as Jinx closed a protective arm around Belle's tiny shoulders it was all too clear neither would be returning home.

**_District Eight-_**

A hush descended over the sewing district as they watched the slight and sickly girl take the stage. They were absolutely disgusted that of all people to be selected, a mute child was the one to suffer more misfortune. The brightly coloured dress only accented how underweight Charix was, large brown eyes scanning the crowd silently, trying to find some kind of hope. It was never to come though as it always had been the case for her. Her family was too poor to feed all of their children most days, let alone pay for the treatment that could restore her voice. Despite all the sympathy being aimed at her, the eternally crushed spirits of the district meant no one was brave enough to take her place.

There couldn't be a starker contrast in personalities and circumstances though as the male tribute was named, each member of the district flinching as he walked past. The son of one of the richest families in the District, Greg had always been a symbol of chaos and anarchy. He was eighteen and had the frame of a fighter, which would have labelled him as a good choice in many ways. Though the sadistic look of pleasure on his face, knowing where he was going made them pity the poor soul to encounter him when he was allowed to begin killing. They had no evidence of it per say, but it seemed to be common knowledge by this point, if a family had a pet and it went missing, it was him that took it. The carcasses of the animals seemed to turn up on the family's doorstep a few days later, mangled and falling apart, looking like it had been tortured to death.

The applause rang out for the two tributes, but the enthusiasm came from only a few people. These were undoubtedly the ones with betting slips between their fingers. Greg shook Charix's hand, nearly crushing the shaking girl's fingers in a simple gesture. This district's tributes were both tragedies of their own design.

**_District Nine-_**

'Come on darling, up you come,' came the call of the pink skinned, sequinned eye browed Capitol woman, 'That's it darling right up here.'

The tiny girl's lip quivered standing next to the microphone that was taller than she was. Her wavy brown hair fell messily around her face, her wide brown eyes overflowed with unshed tears. Chance Masatofe; twelve years old, a single entry in the games and among the thousands of paper slips in the bowl, hers was chosen. There was no one to volunteer in her place, she was an only child and had very few friends due to being unceasingly shy. But she was far from unloved, her parents vocally sobbed from the audience, screaming out for mercy for their little girl.

The next choice was almost as unfair. Farrow's father had been killed by peacekeepers several years ago for speaking out against the games, and on the anniversary of the event, the poor child had been chosen. The family survived off whatever money their mother could bring home which was never much. Farrow and his brother had jumped at the chance to take tessera when they'd come of age. But despite this it often wasn't enough to keep all three children fed every day of the week.

District Nine were just shaking their heads to themselves; they knew they shouldn't have gotten their hopes up for maybe winning a second year in a row. These Tributes weren't victor material. The sobs from Chance's parents continued, while Farrow's mother just stared in shock. His little sister sat in her arms, too young to understand what was going on, pulling at her lips and hair trying to get a response out of her. Seeing the two skinny, vulnerable children on stage caused District Nine's thoughts to synchronise, sure of one thing. Unless there was some kind of miracle, they would not see a victor this year.

**_District Eleven-_**

Despite the extreme poverty and the general misfortune of District Eleven, the tribute selections this year spelt neither disaster nor fame. They were nowhere near the brutish figures that the career districts turned out every year, but they weren't exactly laughable. There was something better than just pathetic about these two tributes.

Ursula Guin had been the first called, staring at the audience with golden eyes filled with heartache. She wasn't anything to look at, greasy black hair and pockmarked skin, crooked teeth and a shapeless figure marred with small amounts of malnourishment. However, despite what she lacked in appearance, she made up for with a brain that worked at a million miles a minute. A naturally intelligent look in her eyes was balanced amongst the grief and her always friendly, always smiling demeanour might earn her sponsors. She didn't have a huge chance, but she had one, and that was something.

Basil Pulman stood on the other side of the microphone; he'd grown up on the streets and was somewhat of a thief. His parents had been too poor to care for him so they'd abandoned him. As a result he'd had to gain the instincts and fighting skills necessary to sustain a life on District Eleven's streets. He was also fairly intelligent at least in a real world sense, he'd learnt how to not get caught by peacekeepers. He'd learnt how to survive and that was going to be on his side going into the arena.

Calling what they felt hope was an overstatement, but there was something almost like it pounding through their systems. These tributes weren't the usual supply of poor, innocent children who wouldn't last the bloodbath. This year, they might just possibly have a chance.

**_District Twelve-_**

Things were never good for District Twelve, but this year the events of reaping day proved that as always they'd continue to be laughed at by the rest of Panem. It had poured down with rain, lightning cracked through the air messing with the microphone to the point that Effie Trinket had to speak without it. Her soft and high pitched voice was difficult to hear over the booming thunder. Then to top it all off, Haymitch Abernathy had vomited on the stage, and the tributes selected were a negligible brother and sister from the seam.

Effie tried to look encouraging, standing under a frilly umbrella, as Cady and Cole Vatter stood on either side of her looking grim. They were fifteen year old twins, remaining rigid and miserable; their blonde hair looked almost greenish as it stuck to their faces. Their sickly skin was almost grey and they were down to their bones due to the severe lack of nourishment that they'd had throughout their lives. Their family's financial state was so pathetic that Cady would often resort to selling her body to various peacekeepers to put some food on the table.

As they were lead away into the grim justice building, District Twelve shook its head pitifully. It had been twenty two years without a victor for them and they could not see any way that this year would be any different.

**_Capitol-_**

As the last images of the reaping's filtered off the screens in Caesar Flickerman's studio, the cheering started building up as the blue-suited figure paraded around the stage. His hair and eyebrows had been dyed blood red this year, and the famous too-big-for-his-face smile contorted his cheeks so freakishly only the Capitol could see nothing wrong with it. That was when he announced the entrance of this year's game maker and the applause escalated to new heights.

Seneca Crane bowed to the adoring population and took a seat in one of the spherical chairs, waiting for Caesar to begin his questioning, 'So Seneca, looks like we have an interesting selection of tributes this year, what do you think they can expect going into the arena?'

'I'm not the type to divulge my secrets, but I do have a very interesting assortment of challenges this year set out for them,' Seneca smiled, stroking his comical beard calmly.

'Not even a hint Seneca?' Caesar asked playfully.

'And ruin that surprise, I don't think so,' he laughed in response.

Caesar groaned comically but continued to his next question, 'we have some very interesting pulls this year, who do you think will be some of the strongest contenders this year?'

At this he turned his head to the audience and the numbers began to be shouted out from the audience. It was filled with the usual shouts about the career districts, one, two and four, but those hoping for a little change in the formula had other ideas. There was the occasional five, seven and eight. Among the shouts there was a loud cry of:

'The girl from one is hot!'

This comment gained a loud hoot of approval from the crowd, and Caesar grinned and turned his attention back to the game maker, 'What do you think Seneca?'

'Well as usual Districts One, Two and Four have come to the table with some strong contenders, but we do have a few surprises here and there that may make this a little less of a one sided war. The girl from five, Nakita, I believe is the niece of a victor, Clark Maxwell from the forty fourth Hunger Games,' he explained, receiving a large amount of applause at this mention, 'She may have received some training from him, he was very good with that sword of his. The boy from eight may prove interesting; he looks a touch on the brutal side.'

Another smattering of laughter occurred at this, in the seventy three years of the hunger games no one ever thought of the sewing district of all places producing anything brutal. They'd only had three victors, and they tended to have won due to survival skills, not fighting.

'The pair from District Seven intrigues me, the boy doesn't look like a pushover, and there is something about that girl that makes me think she's not going to go down without a fight. It was the same air Johanna Mason had two years ago and well, look what happened to her,' he said.

As a Capitol favourite a large amount of applause went off at this, the bloody victor of the seventy first hunger games was still fresh in their minds. District Seven had one of the highest totals of victors overall, and there was very few that entered who didn't constitute some sort of threat at the very least. Their natural affinity for axes ensured it.

'So we have some potential from the higher numbered districts, but what do you think of the volunteers on the other end of the spectrum, what do you think we can expect?' Caesar asked encouragingly.

'Each of the girls seem very capable of raking in the sponsors,' Seneca commented seeming slightly scathing but that didn't stop the shouts of agreement, 'though they also seemed very confident in volunteering, they clearly know what they're doing. Furthermore the boy from District Two, Seir, had the look of a soldier about him, very decisive. The boy from Four could take someone's head off just by looking at them funnily.'

This earned Seneca even more applause. The Capitol may have had feigned their lack of knowledge of formal tribute training for the last four or five decades. Though it could never be said it was out of malice towards those who didn't have a chance. They just genuinely seemed to want a good show, and had no understanding of the repercussions of death.

'Although, if I was allowed to bet, which unfortunately I'm not… I would be putting my money on the boy from District One, Orion Ehra,' Seneca said, causing Caesar to lean forward intrigued.

'Now this is something I want to hear!'

'I don't think we've ever had someone who is a child of two victors enter the games, let alone a blood relative of four victors until this point,' Seneca commented earning a huge uproar of cheers from the audience, 'Winning the Hunger Games is in his blood. A win for him would set a new precedent for every victor's family, and I'm sure the Capitol would love to reconnect with its old favourites through some new faces.'

There was an overwhelming amount of applause at this point which vibrated the entire studio. Seneca seemed well on his way to restoring his reputation from the relatively boring year they had in the previous games he headed. A poorly executed game maker trap had wiped out half the remaining tributes after the blood bath. Though his natural confidence and calm exterior along with the exceedingly interesting pulls this year was promising a whole other story.

Caesar stood up and went back to addressing the crowd even if his question was partially aimed at Seneca, 'Now, I've heard from all of you who you think the most dangerous is. But let me hear you think is the most interesting, I think I know but let me hear it!'

The shout of, 'The District Ten girl,' was unanimous through the crowd.

Caesar beamed and did a little skipping hop before asking, 'You want to see that one again folks?'

The shouts of affirmation echoed through the audience as with a dramatic flourish Caesar turned the audience's attention back to the TV's and the loud shouts of, 'we volunteer, we volunteer!'

_My axe is cooler than yours._

**No mine is better then yours! I mean seriously yours may glow in the dark but mine breathes fire! Do not ask me how it does but I have faith that one day it will!**

_My axe is made of fire...take that_

**And later you will be complaining to me why your hands are burnt... *sigh***

_No, i shall be using my axe to make cookies._

**What aren't my cupcakes good enough for you? *raises axe***

_I never said your cupcakes weren't good. I just said i was going to use my axe to make cookies_

**Oh shut up Ally, I'm leaving I have a new chapter to write**

**~Selina**

_Hey Selina wait for me_

_Ally :)_

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><p><strong>Updated: 69/14**


	4. Praying for you

**We're here, nobody panic!**

_Yay, depressing chapter_

**It's not that depressing... ok maybe the last bit is.**

_Point, but it's still depressing_

**So we have plenty of insight of our awesome array of characters, as well as a bitch slap coming up.**

_Ooohhh, Bitch Slap. _

**So lets go see what is soon to happen, and we'll talk to you after the chapter has ceased.**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter Four: Praying for You<strong>

The Justice Building of District One was what some may have called lush. It was colourful, plushy and the banners in the foyer depicted the twelve victors of the district as the warriors and heroes everyone in the district wished they could be. A significantly smaller area contained a simple memorial lined in plaques, bearing the names of the fallen tributes, who'd failed to come home. In the eyes of District One, this was the perfect place to have the tributes farewell their loved ones. In the arena they'd either achieve the god-like fame of a victor or join the wall where the other one hundred and thirty two unsuccessful tributes were listed. Forever seen as either insignificant or disgraceful in the eyes of their district.

In the rooms above the foyer, all Orion was capable of doing was sitting there massaging his temples. His thoughts bounced around his skull uncontrollably as he tried and failed to deduce how he'd gotten here. Why he had volunteered was a mystery to him, but nevertheless that one slip up was going to get him killed. Filled with self-loathing he stood and began pacing around the room, trying to enforce a state of calm that was slipping further and further away from him. He was unable to crush the feeling of dread that shocked through his system.

His panic continued to escalate and soon he felt nauseated and unable to breathe. He compensated this feeling by ripping off his tie and the restrictive jacket, tossing them angrily into the corner before dumping himself back on the couch. Being still only agitated him further and soon he went back to pacing. He eventually just moved to a nearby wall and began bashing his head into it. He was an idiot, a fool, a trained idiotic drone.

'You're going to do some damage to yourself if you keep that up,' came a quiet voice from the door.

He turned as he recognised his mother's voice, and once ascertaining the fact his father wasn't there his pokerface dropped. Only to his mother would he let the frightened, almost childlike terror fill out his features. The misery in her eyes matched what was held in his own and he didn't object when she guided him to sit down. They just sat there as she hugged him tightly stroking the spikes of his brown hair soothingly. He knew she was crying, he just didn't want to see it, he just couldn't bare to look at her.

'Orion… I don't want to lose you,' she whispered gently.

'I know,' he replied quietly.

'Then don't make me have to go through that,' she insisted, turning his head and looking deeply into his eyes like she was trying to memorise every inch of his face before he was taken, 'I know you don't want to do this, but I have no doubt that you can get through this. You're smart, you're brave, you're strong. You know more about these games than anyone else in that arena. Please... come back to me Orion.'

He nodded and managed to choke out, 'I'll try.'

She simply looked miserable and pulled him back into her arms, holding him to her chest, thinking only about her son, her only child. Orion had heard stories about her games since he was born, but he had never witnessed any of the reruns. In school if they were analysing the games, he had always been given permission to leave and not view them. As a result he could hardly perceive his mother as the person they always raved about: Astoria Deletaire, a victor who'd upheld the legacy and honour of District One. All he could see her as was the women who had cut the crusts off his sandwiches till he was eleven and gotten teary when he insisted he didn't need a night light anymore.

After a few minutes the peacekeepers knocked on the door and she stared at them with huge grey eyes and nodded when she realised they wanted her to go. She pulled Orion back into one last hug and kissed his temple, pressing something into his hands. She got to her feet and slowly walked out the door wishing that she could do something to change what was going on, but only being able to whisper:

'I love you Orion.'

The frightened boy just watched her leave before slowly uncupping his hand to stare at what she'd given to him. If he wasn't so perpetually miserable, he might have laughed or even managed a smile, as all it was was a slightly grubby, green shoelace. He'd had the thing for years, keeping it purely because crouching down to pick it up had stopped him from getting his head taken off by a misaimed knife in the training room. He'd dubbed it a good luck charm and kept it around, and something always good happened when he was wearing it. He knew his mother must have run back to the house to get it out of his old shoes, even the simple gesture made him hate himself more than ever. All because of what this had to be doing to his mother.

He was still sitting in a pit of self loathing when his father knocked on the door. Orion just stared at his father as he walked in, knowing that he finally had done what his father wanted. Earning his approval was going to get him killed, he knew it. His father was someone he had no problem picturing him in the arena, he may have never seen the games themselves but he knew all the same what his father would have done. As long as Orion had known him, he'd been stern, tough and a gigantic supporter of the Capitol. He never said a word against the games, and he never would.

Alcor Ehra was essentially a legend. The beginning of the dynasty of career tributes. It was his win in the forty eighth year that had begun a time where nearly every year someone from Districts One, Two and Four had won. There were maybe half a dozen tributes from the other districts who'd won since. His father was a third generation victor, son of Caelum Ehra, grandson of Altair Ehra. And Orion was very much expected to follow in the footsteps of those who'd come before him.

Alcor clapped his son on the shoulder, shaking his shoulder slightly in the closest thing to an affectionate gesture Orion could remember receiving in years, 'And here I was thinking you weren't going to do it.'

'I didn't plan on it. But apparently you've brainwashed me,' Orion said, not bothering to hide his aggravation,

He saw the twinge of irritation in his father's eyes, undoubtedly furious at the lack of respect Orion continued to show him. Alcor didn't sit down, he just moved to stand against a wall, seeming to take a brief moment to control his anger. Orion just didn't look at him, keeping his eye contact averted. He had never understood his father's passion for the games, he'd never understood how his father could convince himself that what spelt the word death for so many people, was the greatest event of the how could his father not understand that? He'd been raised in the Victor's Village, at sixteen he'd volunteered and started the era of career tributes. It was thanks to him that everyone was terrified of facing District One in the games.

Orion wasn't sure even why he had taken the standpoint on the games he had. But all he could remember since he was a child, was the look in the eyes of children from other districts. Terrified, crying, knowing they were about to die and being unable to do anything to stop it. He still wondered to this day how many people his father had seen with that look in their eyes, and killed them without a word, without hesitation and given his fanatical attitude to the games, without remorse.

He didn't know how many people his father had killed, he hadn't seen his games either. Apart from the games he'd been alive for he hadn't seen any of the games involving District One victors. His parents always told him that what you became in the games was not a proper gage of character. That if he saw these people at their weakest and most fragile moments, it wouldn't be fair on either of them. And considering he was raised in their presence, seeing the monsters they'd been was not something his parents encouraged.

'You've come up with a plan right?' his father asked suddenly, snapping Orion out of his wordlessness for a moment.

'What?'

'A plan. You can't go in there without a plan. Stick with the career tributes, see if there's anyone from another district that constitutes a threat, play the boyfriend, girlfriend angle with Shimmer. That sort of thing-' Alcor had begun ranting, seeming amazed at his son's cluelessness.

'Right now the plan is to step off the platforms early and get myself blown up,' Orion retorted.

Alcor looked furious at his son's comment, 'Listen to me Orion, if you do that-'

'I'll bring shame on the whole family? My district? The legacy of the career tributes?' Orion mocked in response.

'I am not going in as your mentor. I can't save you from your own stupidity if you insist on acting like this!' Alcor retorted, his temper starting to get the best of him.

'Well thank god, that way when I die you can take a second to create the perfect image of sadness for the cameras, because let's face it you don't give a damn-'

'Hold your tongue, I won't be spoken to like this!' Alcor demanded.

As the argument had heated up, both father and son were on their feet, staring each other down as their ideologies, as usual, began to clash. Orion knew what his father wanted, another hero for the family tree, another clone to ensure the Ehra family name went down in history. It had always seemed like it wasn't enough for Orion to bare the family name, he had to bare the family face as well. He looked just like his father had when he was his age, who looked the same his grandfather had who looked the same Orion's great-grandfather had. The same tall frames, the same spiky brown hair, the same wide eyes and generally the same facial features. There were only a few subtle differences other than the aging, Alcor's eyes were brown while Orion's were blue. Alcor was slightly taller and bulkier, while Orion was leaner with fresher muscle definition than his father. That was the other perk of being an Ehra, the genetic clone, to go with the expectation that you'd murder children to earn a comfortable living.

'You are a victor. It's time you started acting like it.'

'I think I've got about twenty three people to murder before that happens,' Orion hissed.

'If necessary,' Alcor said flatly, his tone becoming very dangerous, 'You kill whoever you have to in order to survive. You better get used to that thought Orion.'

'I'm not you,' Orion said simply, his entire body shaking, 'I won't do what you did.'

'You don't even know what I did Orion,' Alcor snarled.

'Time's up,' came the voice of the peacekeeper at the door.

Alcor turned and briskly walked out of the room, not saying goodbye, or good luck or anything of that sort. His eyes just burned into Orion's skull, seeming to just say to him "you better not mess this up." The moment the door closed, Orion just collapsed face first on the floor miserably. Anger, grief, misery and a plethora of emotions he didn't think had names pounding through his system. How had he been stupid enough to get himself into this? Though the thought that haunted him more than ever was simply the question, what was he going to do now?

…

The Justice Building of District Seven had once been so worn down and battered that it threatened to collapse at any moment. But the recent economic boom had allowed them to rebuild it so it was essentially brand new to the point that it still smelled of wood lacquer. Despite the plush bed and the beautifully carved chairs, Lyra had decided to remain on the floor. She was curled in a tiny space between the bookshelf and the desk, having found essentially the only space not covered by the elegant rug. Her knees were pulled up to her chin, her face hidden under her tangled gold ringlets. Tears were running down her face in a steady stream, undoubtedly making it worse for herself by pressing her ear up against the wall, listening to the tearful goodbyes going on next door.

She listened on bit by bit, she didn't know exactly what was being said, but the tone and small fragments of speech alone were heartbreaking. She was listening to Ike saying goodbye one by one to his parents, his little sisters, his girlfriend Marina and a long line of friends that never seemed to end. There was so much love between these people, which made her feel more alone than ever. She knew that no one would be coming to say goodbye to her.

Her parents had been completely stoned when she left the house that morning. Chances were they wouldn't notice she'd gone anywhere until they started to get hungry. She had never had a chance to make friends, it had been necessary since she was a child to steal to survive. She'd only been seven years old when she'd first been caught thieving and been subjected to a public whipping. Every time people her own age had forgotten about it and stopped thinking she was a menace, she'd get caught again and the cycle would continue. Unless the stray cat that she occasionally threw scraps to managed to get in, she'd be shipped off to the Capitol without a soul on earth to miss her.

Trapped in her state of misery she didn't even hear the hesitant knock on the door. But after a moment of uncertainty it opened. The sudden draft made her look up, her eyes red and swollen from the tears, blinking hesitantly as she tried to decipher who was standing in front of her. The moment she did however, she scrambled out of her crouched position, her expression changing from miserable to defensive in an instant. Her depression was overwhelmed by self preservation, standing firm, staring down the person who'd dared to interrupt her in a rare moment of self-pity.

'If I had a white flag I'd wave it,' was the first thing he said, making her falter slightly.

'What the hell do you want?' she growled through her teeth.

Toby hardly looked surprised by her reaction, though he seemed somewhat disturbed by how broken she looked, 'Lyra...' he said quietly, face softening.

'What?' she snapped.

'...I'm not going to ask you if you're okay, that's just plain stupid,' he said simply and she rolled her eyes moving away from him even further, throwing herself down on the bed, 'But I'm not going to come in here and pretend like I'm not concerned.'

At this she sat up, staring at him with the most disbelieving look on her face, 'Who do you think you're fooling? You don't give a damn about me. You never have. Just because you've realised torturing me for years for no particular reason might have been needlessly cruel… it doesn't mean you can fool me. It doesn't mean you can convince me you're sorry, or that you give a damn, because you don't. I'm not that stupid.'

Lyra half expected for him to walk out of the room, either that or start arguing with her. like he usually would have. But instead he just looked almost desperate before taking another step into the room and closing the door.

'Lyra, I know you hate me, honestly with how I've acted in the past I can't expect you to think of me any better,' he managed to get out, seeming to choose every word with exaggerated care, 'But I never-'

'Never thought that I'd be sentenced to death this early? Depriving you of years more insults before one or both of us just dropped dead?'Lyra interrupted, then her tone turned stone cold, 'Well I don't know who's lucky day it is today. Yours for getting rid of a thorn in your side, or mine for finally escaping you.'

Once again she hoped he'd walk away, but he just seemed more determined than ever, having the sheer audacity to sit at the foot of the bed, 'Lyra it's not like that. That's not why I'm here.'

He didn't seem quite done, but Lyra was sick of listening to him, 'You fool everyone Toby. Everyone has always been taken in by your little act of perfection. That's just like your blessed father, our dear mayor; you always acted in everyone's best interests. You made everyone think you were so good hearted and just and true, they were actually blind to how you treated me.'

He watched her unwaveringly, with an intensity that suggested he was watching some sort of horrific explosion. It was almost like he was too scared to say anything, but Lyra just threw herself to her feet moving away from him. He just watched her, hand gripping the edge of his jacket as a way to restrain himself from saying something he shouldn't before carefully selecting his next phrase.

'Lyra, I know things have been bad between us but-'

'There are no buts about it Toby. Do you even remember what you did to me? Or have you deleted it because it doesn't fit with the perfect image of the Brown's family crusade for a better district,' she said whipping around, her ringlets flaring around her.

At this Toby didn't seem to have the nerve to say anything, just staring at her wide eyed, mouth slightly open. He knew exactly what she was talking about, exactly what had started the war between them that had lasted the better part of a decade. Lyra stared him down, nothing more than the purest disgust in her eyes for the person who had the nerve to think he could just apologise after all he'd done to her.

'Seven years old, starving to death, so desperate for food that I had no choice but to steal. I snuck in through an open window, I didn't break anything, all I did was take a hunk of bread. And you saw me. You looked at me right in the eye and screamed for your parents. And in spite of what everyone thinks of your _noble_ family, they had me whipped by the peacekeepers. I still have the scars. But of course why wouldn't I? Every time anything went missing after that they instantly assumed it was me. You turned me into a criminal in the eyes of the District. I was a child!'

'And I wasn't? I was ten Lyra, I didn't know what was going on, I didn't know how much-'

'How much chaos you'd force upon me? Excuse me for not knowing what being ten means in the eyes of normal people. At that age I was a little too busy trying to survive. Something you would know nothing about because let's face it, you've been completely sheltered from-'

Toby's eyes were burning with emotion, the words falling out of his mouth as he yelled over the top of her, 'Lyra please, I'm desperate, just let me talk, give me one minute to at least to try to-

'Times up,' came the voice of the peacekeeper who'd opened the door.

Toby looked at the peacekeeper and hastily said, 'Please, just two more minutes.'

The peacekeeper clearly recognised him as the mayor's son, and looked like he was going to permit it when Lyra growled, 'You heard him, get out.'

'Lyra I-'

'Get out!' she screamed, pushing him through the door, nearly knocking over the peacekeeper as she did.

Fury was pounding through her chest, as she began to pace restlessly around the room, clutching at her face and tugging her hair. She was done with being upset; now she was just angry, without warning she swung around and punched the wall leaving a sizeable dent in the plaster. The vibrations rang through her body, and she promptly collapsed face first on the bed, trying to sort through her tangled thoughts.

Lyra was convinced she'd had her first and last visitor, but about five minutes later, there was another knock on the door. As it swung open, Lyra lifted her head weakly to see who it was. She swore slightly upon seeing them, not as paranoid as she'd been when Toby had walked through the door. But that didn't mean she wasn't nervous, she knew how this could potentially go down. Though all the same she didn't think they could possibly do anything worse to her than they were already doing.

A willowy girl with long blonde hair stood anxiously in the doorway, dressed in a silken gown for reaping day. Lyra knew of her rather than knew her; she was one of the Amor girls, the richest family in the entire district. They also happened to be who Lyra had selected to "donate" an outfit to her for the reaping. She must have recognised the dress Lyra was still wearing.

'Uh… hi there,' Mina said awkwardly.

'If you want the dress back I don't think the Capitol's going to dry clean it for you,' Lyra said rather sardonically, rolling her eyes; she wasn't going to humiliate herself any further by heading to the Capitol in just her underwear.

Much to her surprise, Mina looked rather confused, her brow furrowed and she hastily looked Lyra up and down, seeming to notice what she was wearing for the first time, 'Oh… you're wearing my… ah… how did you…? Never mind. It's a hand-me-down from one of my sisters, I'm too short for it, you can keep it-'

This was Lyra's turn to look confused, instantly interrupting the rambling girl, 'You're not here about the dress?' she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

'No actually...' she said awkwardly, beginning to twist the pendant she was wearing, 'I actually came to see how you were doing? You know, how you were holding up.'

'Excuse me, but when have you and I ever talked to each other?'

She knew she was being rather blunt, especially to someone who seemed to be trying to be nice to her. But it was simple facts. Mina had been in her classes at school for years, and there had probably been no words between them except for an occasional "excuse me" in the corridor. She was from the richest family in the District after all, and Lyra was just some street rat.

But Mina just surprised her by sitting down on the edge of the bed and looking at her meaningfully, 'Look I know I've never really hung around you but… I just saw the look on your face at the reaping and… I had to come… I didn't want you to be alone on a day like today.'

'You've never cared before,' Lyra stated, trying to shut this down.

'I always wanted to talk to you; I always thought you were kinda funny, but… your reputation...'

'You can say it, I'm a thief, and your rich ass parents would never want you hanging around with someone like me,' Lyra concluded.

'It's not the thief thing,' Mina told her, 'It's the "you threw a knife at a teacher," thing.'

Lyra glanced at her, a slight smirk rising on her features, 'Oh yeah, that thing.'

'And the axe you chucked at the peacekeeper,' Mina reminded.

'Hey it didn't hit him, it was a warning shot,' Lyra insisted, 'I never hurt anybody.'

'You've hurt Toby,' Mina pointed out, the rich and powerful tended to know each other.

'Okay the wood chipper was not even on-' Lyra began to say when Mina interrupted her.

'Wood chipper?! I was talking about the time you broke his jaw. A wood chipper?' Mina asked, losing all her impertinence.

'It wasn't on,' Lyra repeated.

For a long moment both girls looked at each other, before out of nowhere Mina started to laugh and Lyra couldn't help but smile slightly. Mina's energy was infectious. Part of her wished she'd actually gotten to know her before this, but that would have to be added to the long list of regrets she'd now be living with. Her stray thought must have shown on her features, because at that moment Mina stopped laughing and stretched out to take her hand.

'Hey, you're not dead yet,' she said gently.

'Is that supposed to be comforting?' Lyra hissed, hating herself for showing any weakness just because of a few moments of apparent kindness.

'Well if it helps the moment my father found out you were reaped he told me he might as well stake his life savings on you now,' Mina offered.

'What?' Lyra asked shortly slightly dazzled, knowing Mr. Amor's record.

'He's very rarely wrong… Lyra, you know you have a chance. What we were just talking about, if you'd meant to injure anyone you would have, quite easily. Besides, sponsors are going to love you, I mean, you're pretty fiery, and they'll like that in the Capitol. You have a chance at coming home-'

'I'm sorry, just because I've thrown a couple things at people doesn't mean I could take on a career! And what makes you think that I'm comfortable with the thought of murder!'

'...I'm sorry… I just hated to see you so hopeless but…'

'It's fine. I don't really see the point in coming back, coming "home." There's nothing here for me… there never has been. This is the most positive interaction I've had with another person in a long time, so don't think you're doing badly,' Lyra said barely above a whisper.

Mina's dove grey eyes seemed to shine with sadness at this, before she suddenly unclasped the chain from around her neck, 'here,' and before Lyra could even look at it properly she hooked it around her neck.

'Huh?'

'I want you to wear it in your games; they let you have a token… There is something here for you, I promise, there's more than you know,' she assured, her voice slightly strangled with emotion, 'I want you to wear that, because there is hope, and you can finally escape from suffering and live a life of love. Let it be a reminder that your life can change, for the better.'

Lyra stared at her, blinking rapidly, before looking at the pendant dangling from her neck. It was a series of diamonds, joined together to form the shape of a gently curling leaf. It was beautiful, and for some reason Mina wanted her to wear it in the games? The chances of getting back a dead tribute's token were fairly slim, but she'd still put it on her.

'Mina...'

'Times up,' came a voice from the peacekeeper at the door.

Mina smiled softly and nodded, squeezing Lyra's hand, 'You can do it, I know you can.'

Lyra watched her walk out the door, confusion rippling through her system; she hardly knew what was going on anymore. For a split second she gazed at the pendant, knowing what it meant. But that was her last clear thought before she dissolved into tears.

…

Astra was unable to help the tears that leaked from her eyes with no sign of stopping. Her body shook, her skinny frame rattling as she desperately clutched at the edge of her dress. She knew she was going to die. There was nothing left to do but accept it now. She may have been able to prevent Sera entering the arena, but that was the only thing in her power to do. Now there was another tragedy coming for her family that they would have to face without her. Her parents would lose another child. Her brothers and sisters would lose another sibling. And they would have to endure it in the spotlight; they would have to face whatever emotions arose carefully with the Capitol staring right at them. Daring them to break, daring them to speak out against the horrors their family was continuously being subjected to.

Her fiddling located a rather large knot in her hair and out of pure frustration she began tearing her fingers through it. Removing the tangle didn't do much difference to the blonde locks which twisted this way and that as if they had a mind of their own. The hat she had been wearing before to cover the tangled strands was gone, lost somewhere between the microphone on the stage and her room in the justice building. But in light of everything that had happened this morning, she just didn't care.

It was only when the door opened that she looked up, to see her parents stepping around one of the silent, faceless peacekeepers. Quickly Astra uncoiled herself from the floor and sprang into their arms, tears streaking down her face, sobbing uncontrollably once again. Neither her mother nor her father spoke at first, they just hugged her tightly. They already had experience in this, farewelling a child and knowing they would never see them alive again. A few years ago they had been here for their eldest, now, it was their youngest.

'Why did it have to be me mum?' Astra asked eventually through her tears.

'I don't know, I just don't know,' her mother spoke, voice choked.

'I don't want to die,' Astra whispered and felt both her parents hug her even tighter.

Both of them were crying, crying like they had when they had come into this room the first time to farewell Finn. They had hugged him tightly as well, just like they were hugging her now, as if they were never going to see her again. It was the closest she'd ever had the chance to feel to her brother, she hadn't even been of reaping age when he was sent away. It was horrifically bittersweet to stand where he stood, as her brain fizzled with memories of Finn's final farewell.

When at last they broke their hug, Astra's father held something out to her, 'We were originally going to give this to you on your birthday next week… We wanted to make it special, we all helped save up for it… but you… you might as well have it now.'

Carefully Astra held out her hand and he placed a chain linked bracelet in her palm, a small luxury that she would never have hoped to own. Hanging from the links were a series of oval pendants, ten in total. Despite her tears, Astra frowned in confusion, until her mother reached down and opened one of the pendants. Inside was a picture of Carter, one of her brothers. As she opened the others she found pictures of the rest of her family. Her mother, her father, the twins, Hayden and Hunter, her sister Sera, Roy, Alec and even her eldest brother Finn. The final pendant held a picture of her, looking so wide-eyed and innocent she almost seemed like a stranger.

'Mum, dad...' Astra trailed off as more tears spilled from her eyes.

'Make sure you remember us in there Astra,' her father sounded gruffer than usual, as if he was trying to hold back sobs, 'and remember to never give up. You know what your strengths are, use them. Make sure you come back to us.'

Mutely, Astra nodded, allowing her mother to hook the bracelet onto her tiny wrist. It felt heavy and cold, but Astra already knew that she would never take it off. No matter how much longer she lasted.

Too soon the door opened again and a peacekeeper appeared, 'times up.'

Astra didn't want them to leave, and she quickly wrapped both her parents into her arms in a tight embrace. She didn't want them to go, she didn't want to be left alone in this place. They hadn't been given enough time to say goodbye yet, there was still so much more that she wanted to say to them.

With practised fluidity, and an air of exasperation which suggested that they had had to do this many times before, the peacekeepers stepped forward and expertly pulled Astra away from her parents. As they were roughly guided out of the room, Astra wanted little more to be able to fling herself at the doors and hurl them open so she could run away and be free again, free from this waking nightmare.

She was just about to attempt to barge the doors when they opened again with alarming suddenness. This time it was her siblings who came hurrying in, all six of them, all attempting to talk to her at once. First came Hayden and Hunter, the twins and the closest to her in age, less than a year older. They immediately pressed her in a tight sandwiching hug between the two of them, talking quickly and very loudly.

'We wish we could volunteer for you.'

'The others wouldn't stand a chance if we were in the games together.'

'Don't worry Astra, we'll find a way to smuggle you out of here.'

'We already have a plan.'

'It will fool everyone.'

'Even the peacekeepers.'

Keeping quiet, Astra let them babble, explaining their ludicrous plan to her to get her away from the Justice building and back home, so she wouldn't have to compete. Usually their mindless banter and constant chattering got on her nerves after a while. Right then, it was just reminding her that she would probably never see either of them again, that she would never be able to argue with them or laugh with them or conspire with them ever again. More tears pricked her eyes at the thought and she swallowed them down as best she could.

Next in the sibling line came Roy and Carter. Much like the twins, Roy was also in favour of breaking her out of the Justice Building and making a run for it. One of the more emotional of her siblings, he was also crying quite openly as he embraced her, scooping her off the ground easily due to the extreme height difference. Carter came close after him with a barrage of encouragements.

'You'll be fine Astra, you'll see. I'll wager that you're tougher than half of them.'

'But I'll be weaker than the other half,' she mumbled and she saw his face drop upon hearing her negativity.

'Don't be like that Astra,' he pleaded, gripping her firmly by the shoulders and looking her dead in the eye, though part of her wished he wouldn't, 'you're not supposed to be unhappy. The whole world is only happy when you're happy.'

Normally this would have made Astra laugh, or at least try to smile. Today she didn't even have the energy to attempt, not even for her brothers sake. Following straight after Carter was Sera. Her sister. Her only sister. Perhaps the person she was closest to in her family, possibly the whole world. She looked as though she had been crying since Astra's name was called, and now she wrapped her arms around her little sister and stared at her pleadingly.

'Why didn't you let me volunteer? I should be the one going, not you. Not you, it was never meant to be you.'

'Sera…'

'I'm your older sister, I'm the one who looks out for you, the one who protects you, not the other way around. It shouldn't be you going, it should be me!'

With her head buried against Sera's shoulder, Astra managed to speak, 'I won't get another chance to decide if someone lives or dies. Your life will be the only life I get the chance to spare.'

Sera stared at Astra helplessly before crushing her even harder against her chest. The other siblings joined the group hug and Astra disappeared under the many arms desperate never to let her go. But eventually the last person in the room cleared their throat and the other Vee Siblings reluctantly stepped away to let Alec speak. The now eldest Vee brother had never been the same since Finn had died, and now he had to face the same horror all over again.

He was no means an affectionate person, so when he took Astra's hand the simple gesture nearly made her break down completely, 'Astra,' he said gruffly, 'I don't have any advice for you, I don't know how anyone gets through those games, I don't think anyone does. But you need to figure out something that works for you. Don't let them take you away from us that easily. Do you hear me?'

Astra slowly nodded and then with a hiccupping breath she plunged herself into Alec's arms sobbing. The peacekeepers opened the door, and asked for the siblings to leave, but it would take more than a dozen men to remove the six Vee siblings from the room. Each latching onto their little sister with no intention of ever letting her go.

As the last of her brothers were pulled from the room, Astra collapsed in a heap, sobbing desperately. All she could think about was the loving family she would never see again.

* * *

><p><strong>Poor Astra, and poor Toby as well but I might just me saying that because I know what he was going to tell her.<strong>

_Heeheehee, cut down_

**Oh shut up Ally, you're not street enough to say that, so anyway next chapter we shall be meeting the mentors, and soon enough we'll be in the Capitol, and then-**

_YAY, YAY, Violence, Violence. We get to kill people!_

**Have you had your pills this morning Ally?**

_No, i lost them_

**Oh jeese, here we go again, well see you all next time and don't forget to review.**

_Or we'll set angry loopy on you!_

**I like to think of her as a mentally unstable, assassin for hire. **

**Running away already~Selina**

_Hey, wait for me. I don't wanna die :) Ally_

* * *

><p><strong>Updated 133/15- Authors note now out of context with current chapter, Lyra originally slapped Toby. **


	5. Meet the Mentors

**Here we are, fresh of a brand new chapter that we managed to write in about an hour, go us!**

_We warn you though...there may be a few mistakes_

__**Well when we update this quickly we have a right to a few mistakes, read and review guys.**

Chapter 5: Meet the Mentors

"It is such a privilege to represent District One at this years games don't you think Orion? And it will be so great to work alongside each other, with the way we've been trained, our weapons compliment each other perfectly, we shall become an unbeatable team. What do you think Orion?"

Orion stared blankly at Shimmer's gushing, thinking dully to himself how on Earth a bow and arrow complimented katana. Although he would happily use katana to remove said archer's head.

'Not talking much are you?'

He shook his head mutely, being sentenced to his death was one thing, being sentenced to the torture of putting up with Shimmer was another thing entirely, 'Come on now Aurora and Jet won't like you being so silent, loosen up.'

All she got from him was another head shake, 'Orion, this is no behave, you're acting like a two year old.'

More silence, and then a nod, and more silence, Shimmer glared at him then tossed her head pouting like it would get his attention and he would try to apologize but she was sorely disappointed. That was when two people entered the carriage, both tall, young, with the look of warriors about them. Jet was as his name described, dark haired, dark eyed and a dark facial expression, but that didn't stop him smiling charmingly at them. Aurora had a even more charming smile, and was light haired, and blue eyed, but there was something cold in them, something Orion had no other word for than frosty. It was bad enough dealing with Shimmer, now his mentors were going to annoy the hell out of him as well.

Shimmer was beaming at them, she'd already spent much time with Aurora in sort of an apprentice like situation, they had the same weapon, same technique, and undoubtedly were going to try to win over the Capitol the same way. Which left Orion stuck with Jet, he hadn't met him before per say, but Jet liked people if he had some way to manipulate them, he had to have something to work with, Orion was determined to give him nothing whatsoever.

'Now listen up you two,' Jet said launching straight into it, 'What can you do?'

Shimmer was all to happy to give them a full list of her qualifications, including a few irrelevant ones, 'Well I can shoot very well, I never miss a target even if its moving, I know how to fight with a knife, I'm pretty good with hand to hand...'

As she rattled off this Orion completely tuned out, she was now talking about something to do with how well can charm people and vaguely along the lines of sexy she thought she was. Orion was musing over how many trees there were going past the window and wondering if he jumped out of the train now if he could survive and be accepted by a family of wolves. That's when he felt a slight slap on the back of his head as Shimmer tried to get his attention, she clearly must have said his name a few times and it occurred to him that she'd already clicked in front of his eyes several times, but he still made a point of ignoring her.

Jet took the moment to step in and told him sharply, 'Wake up.'

Orion blinked lazily at him, 'Yes?'

'What can you do?'

He merely shrugged at him, and went back to looking out the window, that was until he heard Shimmer start listing his skills for him, 'Well his main weapon are swords-'

'Katana,' he said gruffly.

'Oh look we got him talking,' Shimmer said with a look at him that was probably supposed to be charming but got him wondering again if a family of wolves would adopt him, or kill him now, either one seemed like a better option, 'Would you like to continue.'

He shrugged off handedly so she decided to keep listing his qualities, 'I've seen him in hand to hand combat, he could more then easily kill someone that way, he's very talented. He is also an extremely good climber, I've seen him climb up essentially flat surfaces. He's very good at charming people-'

Jet snorted at that, he'd only said two words the entire time he was on the train, but that didn't stop Shimmer, 'He's extremely attractive the Capitol will love him for that. He has extremely fast reflexes, his mind is extremely logical and he's a very quick thinker, he also has an extremely high threshold for pain-'

'I didn't even know that!' he snapped cutting her off.

'Oh look more words,' Aurora mused, she was smiling at him, he wasn't entirely sure how he'd done it, but she like him.

Jet clearly didn't though because the most he could comment on Orion was, 'Looks like you can make yourself useful.'

Orion shrugged not making a comment, but went back to staring out the window, this was going to be a long trip.

...

The train that was taking the two tributes from District Seven moved fast along the tracks, the forests of District Seven were long gone they'd been traveling for quite some time, but apparently it would take about a day and a half to get to the Capitol. Lyra and Ike sat in one of the compartments that was elaborately decorated, and it was clear enough that Lyra didn't like it, it may have been the most expensive room she had ever been in but it kind of unnerved her.

'Why is everything in here so fancy?' Lyra grumbled moodily.

'How are you not impressed by all of this?' Ike asked her with a grin.

'Everything is to over done, it might just be me but this is just a little too much.'

'Wait till we get to the Capitol, this is nothing,' came a voice from the door.

Ike and Lyra turned to see Xandra leaning against the door, she was forty five at the most with at the most, but she had eyes that were dark and troubled that stared at them like a hawk, like she had seen things she'd rather forget. Her hair was ash blonde and looked like it hadn't been cut in a long time because it fell to her knees and was riddled with split ends. Everyone said she was crazy, well that might have been an exaggeration, she just had an extremely bad case of post traumatic stress disorder, she'd won the Hunger Games when she was twelve years old, the first person that young to actually win. It was kind of sad to think that it took forty years for District Seven to win a Hunger Games, but they'd just come to accept it now.

'Hi Xandra, haven't tried to kill anyone recently have you or are you taking your meds like a good girl?'

'Shut it Lyra,' Ike warned.

Xandra turned to look at Lyra with those unblinking eyes, Xandra's case of PTSD meant that she was extremely paranoid. She'd actually killed two people since the games because she thought they were going to hurt her and tried to kill at least six others, she was usually accompanied by peacekeepers everywhere she went now because of it.

Her response on the other hand wasn't angry or crazy in fact she sounded perfectly sane, a little insulting, but sane, 'Looks like we've got a fighter this year, you on the other hand boy are going to be lunch meat.'

Ike looked offended but Lyra quirked an eyebrow at Xandra, 'Really? I insult you and you tell me I have what it takes to win? Where is the logic in that?'

'You can tell a lot about a person from what comes out of their mouth when they see someone that is potentially dangerous. The Capitol is going to love you.'

'What would those self pampering, pompous, narcissistic, shallow egg heads possibly love about me? I'm a thieving street rat with low etiquette and social skills and a complete lack of table manners,' Lyra asked giving Xandra a blank, unimpressed look.

Gertrude looked offended but Xandra seemed perfectly content to ignore her, 'If anything they'll love your temper. Generally its the boys who express this cocky, overly proud but undeniably dangerous quality. They tend to bet that they'll win but then they get killed because of their temper, my suggestion is that you watch it child, they'll bet on you for sure but if you don't learn to control it and think things through then no doubt you'll get yourself killed.'

Lyra glared at her then said one thing that kept bugging her, 'Why does everyone seem to think I'm cocky? Just because I act like it doesn't mean I am!'

'I just baited you there, don't let it happen again,' Xandra said bluntly before turning to Ike, 'You on the other hand, are far to nice.'

'Excuse me?' he asked.

'Exactly. People as nice as you don't get anywhere in these games, you have no chance of winning unless you toughen up a bit and accept the fact you have to kill.'

'B-but-'

'You just proved my point exactly. Toughen up and the next time I criticize you, and trust me there is more of that coming, give me a reason to reconsider my judgement on you. Now what can you two do fighting wise?'

Lyra and Ike both looked awkward, they had never been trained to do anything, 'Oh great, untrained weaklings-'

'What are you talking about?' Ike said looking at Lyra like he had no idea why she was hesitating, 'If you wanted that axe to hit that peacekeeper it would have, same thing with the knife you threw at Miss H.'

'Oh really? Then why are you hesitating Mr-I-design-bear-traps?'

'Good job you're learning already boy, traps could definitely come in handy, there has never been a career who has been particularly good at spotting a pitfall. And you throw things?'

Lyra hesitated before saying, 'I get mad and I throw whatever my hand first finds, if I can't find anything I bitch slap them, if there out of range of a decent bitch slap, then I roundhouse kick them.'

'Or toss them into wood chippers,' she heard Ike mutter under his breath.

She smacked him on the back of the head, 'Don't make me kill you until the games have begun.'

'So you're willing to kill?' Xandra asked.

Once again, Lyra hesitated, 'I don't know. I really haven't got anything to get back to except for returning Mina's necklace, that's the only purpose that I have back in District 7.'

Xandra looked at her like examining her soul, 'You'll find another reason to come back, I guarantee you will. But just remember, even when you get out, the games are never truly over.'

And with that Xandra turned and exited the car, 'What on Earth was with that last comment?' Ike asked.

Lyra just shrugged at him, 'I guess she'll talk more about all the survival skills later.'

'I guess, she clearly thinks that you have a chance of getting out.'

'I don't think she liked the fact that I told her that I didn't know if I was willing to kill, but then again what do we really need from her, she's crazy.'

Ike nodded in agreement but he was less sure. Xandra definitely seemed to know what she was talking about, and according to her he hadn't a chance in hell of winning. He'd need all the help he could get to win, the best way would be to have a chance was to stick with someone who knew what they were doing and Lyra definitely seemed to. She'd survived her whole life with barely a helping hand from anyone, she'd know how to get by. And the more and more he thought about it, he realized something, allying himself with Lyra might be the only chance he had of getting home to his parents, his little sisters... and Marina. He knew he had to see them again, there were so many things he'd wished he'd told them, he had to see them again, he had to fight.

...

'We're on a train, we're on a train, Horace do you see it we're on a train, a train, a train! Woo! Woo!' Horace just stared at her, quirking an eyebrow, 'What did I say?'

He hesitated before saying, 'Nothing Astra. Just wondering how you can be so happy on a day like this?'

'Oh I'm not happy! This is just my way of dealing with it!'

Horace once again raised an eyebrow at her, that was his way of dealing with her, that was when a voice came up from the door into the carriage, 'Keep that up and the careers will think of you as dead meat.'

Joel one of three tributes to have survived the Hunger Games from District 10, early thirties, tall, muscular with an eye patch from where his eye had been gouged out during the games. Not wanting to waste such a tough looking wound and appearance, he'd rounded it off with a gruff, disapproving tone and a complete dismissive perspective on their chances of getting out.

He walked over to Horace raised his arm and muttered, 'Too skinny, and you are just useless,' he said with barely a glance in Astra's direction.

'Hi I'm Astra!' she said with a big toothy grin at him.

'I know who you are.'

'Yay you know who I am!' she cheered.

'I was briefed on my tributes before this, and your brothers always try to do a knock and run at my door,' he said not even glancing at her.

'Yeah they would do that, so how'd you get the eye patch?'

'By winning the games.'

'Ooh, how'd you win?'

'I bashed a guys head in with a brick,' he said like their was nothing wrong with it in the slightest.

'Eww! Icky!... Was there a lot of a blood?'

'I don't know, I couldn't see at the time.'

'Why?'

Joel turned to Horace, 'Is she always like this?'

'Yes sir,' Horace squeaked, it was clear enough how intimidated he was by the big bulky man.

'Call me Joel pipsqueak, not sir, I'm not old enough to be sir.'

'Yes sir, I mean yes Joel, sorry sir, I mean Joel,' he stuttered.

'Oh the careers are going to have fun with you pipsqueak.'

'Don't be mean to him!'Astra whined.

'You two are the worst selection I've ever gotten, every year I have at least on person with vaguely some kind of skill, and yet this year I get a whiney baby-'

'Hey!' Astra yelled but Joel didn't break the flow of his sentence.

'And a pipsqueak.'

'Why are you so mean!'

'If you keep acting like a three year old the Careers are going to eat you alive,' he said bluntly.

'Are they cannibals?' she asked curiously.

'A few of them have been known to result to cannibalism,' he said off handedly.

'Icky!'

'If you get out of these games alive I can guarantee you one thing, you will never use the word icky.'

'Try me.'

_Icky, haha, i said it, In your face Joel!_

**Oh dear, I shouldn't hae given her that drink, my mother tried to warn me it was pure sugar, why didn't I listen to her? WHY!**

_Uh oh Selina's trying to kill herself again_

**Why do you always think when I'm banging my head against a wall that I'm trying to kill myself or lose weight? Can't it simply be that you annoy me?**

****_I don't annoy you...do I?_

__**I don't think I want to answer that, Selina out.**

**~Selina**

****_Heeheehee, _

_Ally :)_


	6. We're going to the Capitol

**Wow we are good, we've written two chapter's today, this is what happens when geniuses such as us unite with a common goal.**

****_Because we don't have big egos at all_

**Shh Ally, now shall we get to this next excellent chapter?**_  
><em>

Chapter 6: We're going to the Capitol

Lyra entered her plush compartment, hating the walls for being too fancy. She flopped back on her bed, which although was the comfiest bed she'd ever been on, it still annoyed her. It had this random place where it was hard, that was when it occurred to her she was actually lying on top of something so begrudgingly, she moved. She noticed she'd been lying on top of a plain brown satchel bag which instantly confused her, what the heck was it doing here?

Lyra being Lyra, opened it, only to find it was stuffed full of papers and pictures, 'What the hell?' she muttered.

She found a piece of paper sticky taped to the flap of the bag that read:

**Dear Lyra,**

**Thought these might be useful to you, I found them in my dad's study, no wonder he always gets the bets right- Mina **

**P.S destroy these after you read them, I'm risking my neck doing this.**

Lyra blinked at the note and then said once again, 'What the hell?'

Selecting at random she pulled out another piece of paper, that bared two photos on it, a dark haired girl and a guy who had as little hair as you could without being bald, a buzz cut basically. In the top right hand corner of the page was the symbol of District Two, and underneath the pictures were names in bright red:

**Kali Muerto **

**Seir Vicioso**

She could only guess they were District Two's tributes and damn they looked tough. Seir had a real brooding look about him, even in the photo it looked like he was plotting someone's murder. Kali looked like she was sizing someone up for breakfast. Below the photo in tight, neat hand writing was what looked to Lyra like a biography. Everything from height, to weight, to weapon, to shoe size was listed, and then there was a psychological profile.

Lyra frowned and pulled out another piece of paper, and on the top corner next to the photos was the symbol for District Ten. Lyra mused as she looked at the scruffy, wide eyed boy, he wouldn't last, she already knew it, she didn't even have to look at the profile to know that. The girl on the other hand made Lyra smile, even though she had the distinct look in her eye she was terrified, there was still a smile on her face, but she couldn't help but notice the profile below her picture.

**Name: Astra Vee**

**Age: 15**

**Height: 5'4**

**Weight: 42 kg**

**Shoe Size: Size 6**

**Weapon: N/A**

**Profile: Although appearing to be happy go lucky, there is definitely something behind her that could prove dangerous. If someone she cares about is hurt she will punish the person responsible and could easily kill in protection of others. **

But Lyra couldn't help but notice in a hand writing she recognised as Mina's, a single note had been added to the page:

**Could be a useful ally if you get her on your side.**

Lyra took note of this and carefully put the file back before pulling out another piece of paper. The symbol for District Twelve was marked on the top of the page and two people who looked remarkably like each other were placed in the photo. They looked extremely underfed, and weak, and according to the psyche profile they probably wouldn't make it out of the bloodbath.

She decided to pull one out from the other side and found herself staring at the tributes from District One. On pure instinct she disliked the girl, who was smiling seductively at the camera, either that or hitting on the photographer. The boy on the other hand was a different matter, the girl had eyes that instantly made you think that she was a complete bimbo but at the same time completely ruthless. Something about the boy though read dangerous, but at the same time, a good heart, he wasn't even smiling in the photo but at the same time he looked... with lack for a better word, nice. But she couldn't help but notice the profile on him:

**Name: Orion Ehra**

**Age:17**

**Height: 6'1**

**Weight: 79 kg**

**Shoe Size: 11**

**Weapon: Katana**

**Profile: Undeniably dangerous, but it is clear enough that he doesn't want to go, that the idea of killing someone is less appealing to him than the standard District One tribute. As the son of two previous victors, the pressure to succeed is born into him, but at the same time he still has a remarkably good natured feel to him.**

That was when she noticed yet another note from Mina:

**Dangerous foe or useful ally, you decide Lyra.**

She rolled her eyes at that, how could someone from District One ally himself with someone like her, she was District Seven for crying out loud. She pulled them all out, spread them along the bed and started trying to memorize faces, names and danger levels, but she couldn't help but realize that District Eight was missing. It was a little odd but she shrugged it off. But that's when she saw her own profile and smirked, according to what Mina's dad thought:

**Budding sociopath.**

...

Orion had figured out that if he kept to the silent treatment for to long, Jet would decide to portray him as a silent, intimidating killer. So this morning when he woke up he decided to try a different tactic, just to throw him off. He was going to out talk Shimmer. He had no idea how he was going to do it, but he was determined to.

'Good morning all,' he greeted cheerfully helping himself to the large pile of food that sat on the breakfast table, 'Lovely day we're having.'

It was raining outside, but he didn't sound in the slightest sarcastic. Shimmer looked at him like he'd grown a second head. Aurora's brow was furrowed as she stared at him in surprise. Epsilon didn't even seem to notice and continued blabbering on to the completely distracted Aurora. Jet was gaping at him.

'What's wrong?' he asked like he had no idea why they were reacting like this.

'You're talking!' Jet remarked looking flabbergasted.

'Of course I'm talking! Why wouldn't I be talking? Do you have a problem with me talking? I can't see why you'd have a problem with me talking!'

Jet slammed his head onto the table, narrowly missing his cereal bowl, Orion scowled at him, 'That's my move! You're not allowed to do that, it is my thing! I'm famous for doing it! Just ask Shimmer! I'm always bashing my head on a wall when she's around.'

'Excuse me?' she demanded haughtily.

'Well its true.'

'I almost like it better when you don't talk,' she said tossing her hair dramatically.

'Now you're confusing me. Yesterday you were going out of your way to make me talk now when I finally do what you ask you want me to shut up. What is it with teenage girls?' he asked the last question to Aurora.

She shrugged non-communicatively, suddenly seeming very interested in her toast, well that was until Jet grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall, 'You listen up here you little punk. I stayed up half the night trying to think of some way to turn your lack of talkativeness into a strategy to impress the Capitol and when I finally do, you decide to go all...'

'Ever considered that might be the point?' Orion said some what cheerfully, well as cheerful as he could appear while pinned to the wall.

'Shut up, you are going to do as I tell you-'

'If you think that I'm going to listen to you then you clearly don't know me to well at all, I don't even listen to my own father.'

That only resulted him getting slammed even harder into the wall, 'If you want to survive then you have to listen to me. If you want sponsors then you're going to have to do as I say. Your fate between life and death depends on me, and how much I like you, so watch your back.'

'Oh I feel so much safer now,' Orion said the sarcasm in his voice ringing through the dead silent compartment, even Epsilon who had been rattling off to Aurora had been silenced.

That was when Shimmer stood before Jet could hurt him further and said rather forcefully, 'Jet put him down.'

Jet glared at her, not moving a muscle until Aurora said gently, 'Jet, drop him.'

With another glare at Orion, he dropped him forcefully and with a muttered threat he went back to his breakfast but Shimmer fussed over Orion, 'Are you okay honey?' she asked fussing with the mark on his neck that Jet had left.

'I will be if you stop touching me and don't call me honey,' he said bitingly.

'I was just trying to help-' she began.

'Trying, not succeeding, leave me alone,' he said forcefully, pushing away her hand.

He'd already realized that trying to be talkative wasn't going to go down well, next time he'd try excessive sarcasm. But for now he was going to try to avoid Jet's temper, but he was positive that if he came out of the games alive, Jet would be furious with him regardless because of his methods. Jet just didn't like him, simple as that. But then again it wasn't like he was trying to endear himself to him.

He went back to staring out the window. Where was his wolf family when he needed them?

...

Astra was sitting in front of the window on the train rocking back and forth singing, 'We're going to the Capitol, we're going to the Capitol.'

Horace had long since stopped listening to her, she'd been doing it since the train driver had announced that they'd be at the Capitol within an hour, it had been nearly an hour since and no one, Horace, Joel or Druella had managed to shut her up, 'We're going to the Capitol, we're going to the Capitol.'

Joel sighed impatiently and went back to the card game he was playing with Horace, who he still called Pipsqueak at all times, 'Go fish Pipsqueak.'

Horace rolled his eyes at the nickname and went to draw from the pile when Astra's singing turned to squealing, 'We're going to the Cap- Oh my god there it is! Look at it! Look at it!'

Her face was completely pinned to the window, staring out at it, still squealing like a maniac, Horace moved to have a look, and his jaw dropped instantly, he'd never imagined anything like this before. Tall, colorful buildings lined a seemingly endless horizon, where large mansions were built on the waterfront view, of the cleanest water they'd yet to see. A hovercraft motored over the train, and they could see someone leaning out the window a video camera balanced on their shoulder, filming them as the train sped past. Their view of the Capitol was obstructed as they flew into a tunnel and for a long moment they couldn't see anything out the window. But that was when they arrived at the train station, and they saw all the people that lined the platform, cheering and waving excitedly.

'Look at that lady's eyelashes!'

'Is that guy wearing high heels?'

'There's a pink poodle over there!'

'Is it just me or is that lady blue.'

'That's the Capitol for you,' came Joel's blank, uninterested voice, 'Don't have anything else to do with their time so they decorate themselves.'

Astra pouted at him, 'Don't be such a spoil sport, this is like visiting an alien planet! I want to enjoy every second of it!'

Horace smiled shaking his head at her then waved at a few people in the crowd who went wild and started screaming, Astra took it one step further by opening the window, and started yelling out it, 'Hi! Hello! How are you all?'

Joel stared at her, she seemed to know a lot more about what she was doing than he thought, well that was until he saw her start dancing like a lunatic and yelled something along the lines of _do the floppy fish, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop_, and he retracted the previous thought and went back to his previous judgement of her. She was crazy.

'Come on you two away from the window,' he instructed.

'But I'm having fun!' Astra complained.

He sighed, 'I have to get you to your stylists, besides, they'll all be betting on how long it'll take you to die so they're not exactly who you want to be around.'

'The stylists or the crowd?' she asked.

He thought for a second then commented, 'If the stylists were allowed to bet, both. But they can't so come along.'

'Oh,' Astra said disappointedly.

'Come on, whatever the stylist says you do, simple as that, the more you get the people out the window to like you the longer you'll last. And it all starts with the first impression on the chariot.'

'I thought I was making a pretty good impression now,' she said innocently.

'Window's not big enough,' he said gruffly, 'They can barely see you, now come on, you too Pipsqueak.'

He grabbed her and Horace by the shoulders and dragged them away from the window, soon enough they'd be in the hands of their stylists, and where they couldn't annoy him.

_I don't like Jet, he's mean_

**Of course you don't sweetie, at least Lyra and Astra have a semi better deal, I mean Joel is a bit of a jerk but he's somewhat likable. **

****_He reminds me of mad eye moody_

**Which is strange because I'm the Potter freak and yet I'm thinking eight foot tall biker with an eye patch and a snake tattoo.**

_Ohh, Biker Moody_

**That is an image that I didn't want to see.**

_Now i think about it, i don't want to see it either_

**Well who knows, three chapters in seven hours, she's here for at least another fourteen more, you might see another chapter sometime tonight, au revoir readers.  
>~Selina <strong>

****_But you won't have another chapter unless we get at least one review. So come on peoples, review!_

_Ally :)_


	7. Starring and Styling

**Well thank you Loopy, at least you review, although I will never understand why people can't just review whatever they read, whether they like it or not**

_I know. It's so annoying. Why can't people review? Don't worry Loopy, we don't like Jet either_

**So this chapter we dwell into the aesthetic world as Orion, Astra and Lyra meet their stylists, and you could say they're having very... unique reactions to their treatment.**

_Unique. That's a good one._

**Ok guys well let the chapter play and please review this time**

_Yay, reviews_

Chapter 7: Starring and Styling

'Owies!'

Two members of the prep team held Astra down while a third waxed her legs, every time they removed the wax though she'd start screaming that they were being mean, and that she was getting tortured, 'Hold still sweetheart its the last one now,' said one of the prep team with a mothering urge towards the flailing teenager who was acting like a two year old.

'I don't care! Make the pain stop! Make it stop! Why are you being so mean to me?'

The prep team exchanged concerned looks but then ripped the last bit of wax from her, 'You son of a beep! That beeping hurt!'

The prep team looked slightly alarmed, instead of swearing, this girl was innocent enough to say beep? She was going to be dead meat in the games. She was adorable frankly, but that was going to get her killed.

'Sh sweetheart, no more wax, no more pain, we're just going to give you a nice bath and then you can go see Phanka,' the women said kindly.

'Fanta? Like the drink?'

'No sweetheart, Phanka, he's your stylist.'

'Oh!... Why would he be named after a fizzy drink?'

'Oh Phanka is going to love this one,' another member of the prep team muttered.

For the past four hours Astra had been prepared to meet her stylist. They'd waxed her legs, her armpits, her eyebrows, her arms, pretty much everywhere except for the top of her head. But it wasn't like they hadn't done their fair share of fiddling with her hair, the once scruffy, spikes of dirty blonde hair, had now been washed and scrubbed and smoothed to where it sat relatively straight and several shades lighter than she remembered. They'd tinted her eyelashes, fixed her short stubby nails, tried to cover up her extremely scarred knees and hands, they had spent nearly an hour trying to cover up the bite mark on her arm from where a duck had gotten her.

After the bath in which she realized after that she'd never been this clean, they decided she was clean enough and said their goodbye's exiting the room. That was when Phanka entered, and well... if Astra thought that the other people in the Capitol looked like aliens this only continued to prove her theory. He had a bright purple high ponytail that literally rose defying gravity from the middle of his scalp, his eyelashes stuck out at least three inches and were dotted with tiny crystals on the ends. His eyebrows were drawn on with what Astra thought was magic marker and his eyes had magenta irises and bright golden pupils which actually scared Astra quite a bit. His entire face was tattooed with swirling hieroglyphics, and he was wearing silver platform boots, sequined pants and an open shirt, showing off multiple voodoo necklaces.

'Are you Fanta?' Astra said sounding cheerful despite the fact he scared her quite a bit.

'Phanka darling,' he said in a Capitol accent that was so exaggerated that it was ridiculous, 'Now let me see what I have to work with.'

He circled her three times tutting to himself before saying, 'This is ridiculous!'

'What's ridiculous?'

'I have nothing at all to work with here!' he said scathingly.

'What are you talking about? I'm adorable!'

'I don't do adorable, I do stunning, bizarre, grand-'

'Well I'm certainly bizarre if you listen to anyone in my District.'

'Peh,' he spat at her.

'That's disgusting,' she said glaring at him but still looking like a three year old at the same time.

'Well I suppose I'll just have to make do,' he sighed with an over the top eye roll, which looked ridiculous with his eyelashes.

He fiddled constantly with pieces of fabric and oddly enough feathers for about an hour until he turned her to face the mirror, 'Voila!'

'...I'm an albino chicken! Or am I a dove? Or a turkey? Or a goose? Or a duck?'

She was dressed in essentially a feathered bikini, complete with tail feathers, a headdress and fluffy boots. Her entire face had been painted white except for lips which were painted a bright red. Fake eyelashes outlining her forest green eyes, the eyelashes, which had feathers on the end, had been attached to her own but had taken a while to get on because she kept complaining that they tickled. A large amount of blush had been added to her cheeks making her look like a porcelain doll... in a chicken bikini.

'You're a chicken now act like it!' he snapped not realizing that she actually would.

She looked at him and then stooped down and then started jumping around the room, clucking and flapping the wings that had been attached to her arms. Phanka stared at her, gaping at her behavior, no one had behaved as such in one of his creations before!

'Stop it!' he commanded.

'But you told me to act like a chicken!' she exclaimed not understanding it.

'You shall remove the feathers! Now come over here and stay still!'

'I can't do both at the same time-'

'Be quiet!'

...

Orion glared at the prep team, he didn't like them, they kept poking and prodding at him and he couldn't help but notice one of the girls on the prep team was examining him with interest. He was somewhat relieved he wasn't being shaved, as the girls generally had to loose every bit of hair except for the stuff on their heads, with the guys it was more relaxed but they still managed to find four hours worth of stuff to do him. This included a lotion thing that went on his face to stop him growing a beard in the games, not that he particularly could, the most he'd ever had was a vague stubble. Now he doubted he'd ever get a beard, it was a shame, he'd always pictured himself when he was old sitting around, stroking his beard, pondering the mysteries of the universe.

They bid him farewell after what seemed like an eternity, and the girl who'd been _examining _him winked at him before walking out, he glared at her though, it wasn't fair, why did he have to be treated like some sort of dress up toy?

'Oh my! This must be the best year yet!' trilled a voice.

He looked up to see a women with tinted pink skin, whose orange eyes stared down at him almost hungrily, 'I presume you're Fabianna?' he asked blankly.

'Yes my dear!' she crooned.

She span around the room on her ballet shoes, like the sound of her name was music to her ears, her pouffy pink dress swirling out, her blonde hair hanging in perfect tight curls. She pulled off the gloves she was wearing even though he would honestly prefer she kept them on, and began examining his body, although he couldn't help but notice she spent a lot of time touching his chest. He was instantly creeped out but honestly was too freaked by this women to say anything, so he focused on keeping his face blank, like every women he met sat there running their manicured finger tips across his stomach.

'Ah oh the fun you and I shall have together,' she said with a smile batting her multicolored eyelashes.

She was getting creepier by the second, but she told him to stand and what seemed like a continuous torture for a few hours, even though it was only one, she fussed over him. He couldn't see what the hell she was doing but was still distinctly uncomfortable the entire time. After far too long he was led over to the mirror and he just gaped at what she had done to him. He was going to kill her.

Essentially he was dressed in nothing except for a pair of skin coloured, skin tight shorts, that you could barely tell the difference between the shorts and the skin, with diamonds and other jewels stuck seeming almost at random on his skin. Silver spray paint had been swirled all over his body, making him glitter in the light, he didn't like it. She'd stuck a silver, diamond encrusted crown onto his head, that he frankly thought made him look idiotic rather than regal.

'You have got to be kidding me,' was the first phrase that came out of his mouth.

'You like it?' she squealed, 'I thought you would!'

It seemed safer not to say anything.

'Now smile dear!' she trilled.

'No.'

She pouted at him and pinched his side, which she had become very fond of doing when he wouldn't cooperate earlier, the most he could offer her was a grimace and she frowned at him, 'Do you ever smile?'

'No.'

'Well why not?' she demanded.

'Because I haven't found a reason to yet,' he said bluntly.

She pouted at him, 'Well this opportunity is enough to make you smile.'

'This opportunity to get myself killed? Ooh brilliant reason to smile.'

'That's no attitude,' she reprimanded.

'Only one I got.'

...

'Stay still darling, I just need to pluck this one last hair-' the prep lady tried to say as she stood a meter away from Lyra as she tried to fix her eyebrows.

The reason she was standing that far away? They'd found while waxing her legs that her reflexes made her kick, hit or punch whoever was near her. For five hours they'd tried to get her to cooperate as they waxed her body, washed and cut her hair, which she hadn't been happy about, painted her nail, tinted her eyelashes and for the last half hour tried to wax and pluck here eyebrows, which had resulted in one of the prep team getting a black eye.

As the last hair was removed, Lyra's leg decided to react, unfortunately striking the male prep member in the stomach and knocking him into the wall, 'Oh dear, well that was the last one, do you mind if we give you a quick wash over before Esperanza comes to have a look at you?'

Lyra sighed impatiently, 'Well seeing as you're going to do it no matter what I say, fine.'

It wasn't so much that Lyra didn't like the pampering, it was the closest she'd had to a vague affection in a long time, but it wasn't quite the same knowing that the prep team were terrified of her, not that she hadn't given them plenty of reasons. After another wash the prep team left, and she could tell that they were more than happy to leave her behind. She sat up, and shook out her hair which had gone from knee length with constant split ends to shiny, cropped and waist length, that was when Esperanza walked in.

He wasn't as creepy as she had deemed the others she'd seen in the Capitol, in fact as far as Capitol people went he looked rather nice. His skin was hispanic, but that didn't stop the shiny gold hair that literally sparkled in the light. He had a few tattoos but they were tasteful, including a dragon that she was close to asking if he could make it dance. His eyes were dark, but kind, and they lit up as he smiled at her, he had a few ear piercing, and was dressed in a sort of blue suit, but as far as Capitol went, not particularly creepy.

He smiled at her, 'Hello Lyra, my name is Esperanza,' he greeted voice thick with a Capitol accent which still annoyed Lyra.

'I know, your prep team told me,' she said bluntly, refusing to give in to the urge to get along with him.

He laughed at her remark though, 'My prep team told me about your reflexes, Esmerelda seems less than fond of your right hook.'

'She deserved it,' Lyra said stubbornly, 'I don't see why you need to pluck and prod every single hair on me like it needs to fight for its right to exist.'

He just laughed at her again, 'I understand where you're coming from, a lot of tributes are like that when they come here, although none of them have reacted so spectacularly I might add. Now with your permission, may I begin your costume?'

'Do I have a choice?' she asked testily.

'Yes, you either go out naked or you go out in costume.'

She stared at him, then shrugged like she didn't care although she was trying not to laugh, 'Fine, do what you want. I'm going to look like a tree anyway.'

He smirked but went on with his work and for a good hour he circled her, draping her body in green fabric, and for quite a long time fiddling with her hair, asking her questions about herself the whole time. After a time he stopped and showed her to the mirror, and Lyra couldn't help but let a smile slip out. Sure she was dressed as a tree, but with the way he'd done it, it didn't look half bad.

Her body was incased in a shimmering green fabric that was lined with leaf patterns, and wrapped around her in a sort of robe but was left flowing free, matched with a cape that she almost burst out laughing when she saw it, simply because she was wearing a cape. Her long golden ringlets had been woven with real flowers and her face didn't have too much makeup except for the green eyeshadow that accented her startling blue eyes.

'Do you like it?'

'Well despite the fact I look like a shrub, not too bad,' he raised an eyebrow at her response but then she hesitated before deciding to relent and compliment his work, 'I really like it Esperanza.'

He smiled at her, 'Thank you Miss Franklin, I'm honored to know that this years winner will be wearing one of my creations.'

She arced her eyebrow at that, 'Really one compliment and you pin me with the deaths of twenty three people?'

He still grinned at her, 'I can't deny the black eye you gave my assistant, I'm positive you'll win.'

Lyra hesitated but she just couldn't let the man down when he was being so nice to her, so instead of cutting him off and saying she had no chance of winning she gave him a simple smile, 'Thank you Esperanza.'

**I really feel sorry for Orion.**

_So do I. Actually I feel sorry for Joel and Pipsqueak_

**Yeah, they're going to have a lot of fun dealing with Astra next chapter.**

_Hehehe. Yeah, poor pipsqueak_

**Well so we've got things ready to post, it all depends on how many reviews we get.**

_Yep. The next chapter won't be up without a review_

**So see you all when we have reviews.**

**~Selina**

_I can't wait. This is so fun. Bye bye for now_

_:)Ally_


	8. Charriot Ride

**Our Tributes will finally meet each other in this ever so fateful chapter.**

_Ooh dear I smell trouble._

**You shall also continue to hate Jet and Shimmer, although that isn't particularly hard. Astra will become more adorable then ever. And Lyra will be... Lyra.**

_And yes Loopy Orion does have a six pack._

**You'll hear more about that later, because Shimmer takes every opportunity to point it out. So let the chariot's roll, because the Tributes are soon to appear.**

Chapter 8: Chariot Ride

Orion glared around at the people who surrounded him, he didn't particularly like any of them, Shimmer, Jet and Fabianna he hated. Aurora and Shimmer's stylist he was neutral to for now, but he had no doubt the stylist would give him a reason to hate him soon enough, he'd gone along with the whole, wearing nothing thing. Shimmer actually liked her costume, she was parading around in it like she was the sexiest thing on the planet, which she'd always thought she was anyway. It was pretty much a skin tight bra and shorts, studded with crystals, she was taking advantage of this by _accidentally_ dropping her crown and bending over to pick it up. Orion was pretty sure that she wanted him to stare at her rear end, it wasn't going to happen.

Everyone else apart from his own group were in ridiculous costumes as well, so he didn't feel to bad. He preferred not to look at District Twelve who were wearing nothing but a fine black dust, he really did pity them. District Eight could barely be seen under the pile of clothes they were wearing both the tiny girl and the monstrous guy were wearing sequined harlequin suits, complete with a mask and a hat. District Four seemed alright with their own costumes, well as alright as you could be while dressed as a giant fish, their entire bodies had been lined with a blue, scale like material and they had giant spikes coming off their backs.

That's when Shimmer nudged him, and he was forced to look at her even though he would prefer not to, 'Why are you always tuning out when I'm talking to you?'

'You were talking to me?' was his less than satisfactory response.

She glared at him, and once again tossed her hair, turning away from him stubbornly like she expected a response. When he'd first been dragged out here by his stylist, Shimmer had seemed thrilled by his costume and in her words, not his, directly to Fabianna _wow you really managed to highlight his abs. _ After that she and Fabianna spent almost twenty minutes discussing his appearance while he banged his head against a nearby wall. He could hear a girl from another District laughing the entire time but he couldn't be bothered to find out who it was.

'Orion! Don't ignore me when I'm ignoring you!'

'How does that work?'

...

'This headdress is itchy.'

'Oh shut up Ike,' Lyra said from where she was taking great joy in spinning around in her costume, 'You look amazing.'

'I look like a tree.'

'And I look like a shrub, what a fine team we make.'

'You're really enjoying yourself aren't you?' he asked looking over her with a slightly amused eye.

'Isn't that what you've been telling me to do for the last, two or three days?' she asked innocently.

'...Point.'

'Exactly, now lighten up!' she said smiling at him and then straightening the massive leafy headdress that looked like palm fronds.

'Still can't believe I'm wearing a dress,' he said bitterly looking down at his robe.

'Oh shut up Ike, nothing more attractive then a guy in a dress.'

He raised an eyebrow at her, 'Really? You're going to try to pull that one?'

'I didn't try, I succeeded, besides, it could be worse, you could be District Nine,' she said, and instantly at that thought Ike relaxed.

District Nine had the misfortune to be completely covered in seeds, not a suit made out of seeds, just seeds practically glued to their bodies, which looked alright on the hands but every where else... you really did pity them, and you really did wonder how long the stylists spent touching places they shouldn't, she really pitied Chance and Farrow, not only did they have little chance of surviving the bloodbath, now they had to wear this. District Three weren't as bad, the little steel grey dress the girl, Iris was wearing had a hoop skirt on it and the boy Sparky was wearing a jumpsuit in the same colour, they had antennas on their heads and someone had taken the time to draw what appeared to be a switchboard on their faces. The two from District Six possibly might have pulled the worst stylists in the lot, because little Belle and Jinx had tires stacked up circling their entire bodies, up their legs and arms and going around their waists, the stylists could have made them look adorable, instead they decided to make them look fat.

'So you're done with your laughing fit?' Ike asked her randomly.

'Oh I'm sure if Orion goes back to banging his head against the wall I'll keep laughing,' she commented with a shrug.

'Who?'

'District One guy.'

'How do you know all the names, I mean really you refused to watch the reapings, said they were to sad.'

Lyra shrugged him off, 'I heard the blonde bimbo call him that,' Lyra actually knew Shimmer's name as well, just refused to use it.

She hadn't shared Mina's files with Ike, she'd planned to but then noticing the chances that Mina's father had given him, she'd decided against it. He'd said that he wouldn't last more than a week, Lyra was determined to get him past that, but she didn't know if she could, the odds weren't in his favor.

...

Horace tried to escape from where Astra was trying to get him to join in the chicken dance. Phanka was yelling at her from the side of the carriage, telling her she was going to damage his work of art with her constant dancing, but she didn't listen to him, she was to busy dancing around and singing the tune at the top of her lungs. She was attracting more than a few stares from other startled tributes.

The people from District Two, may have been dressed in heavy suits of armor, that clunked every time they moved, but they were both staring at the dancing girl in a chicken bikini like she was a meal. The boy from District Five was staring at her with a dumb look on his face, while the girl looked at her like she belonged in a mental hospital, sure they were wearing electric blue jumpsuits that sparked and crackled constantly, but even they didn't look as weird as Astra and Horace. The two from District Eleven were dressed like fruit baskets complete with headdresses and shoes that looked like bananas, but they still looked at Astra's dancing like she was about to spontaneously combust.

'Da da da dah, da da, da da dah,' Astra sang loudly, trying to force Horace to link arms with her and spin in a circle.

'Save me,' Horace muttered to Joel.

Joel just continued to laugh, 'Don't worry pipsqueak this is nothing on the cow suit I had to wear, I'm still sure to this day that they just removed everything from the inside and chucked me in its place, it smelt horrible.'

'Icky!' Astra commented, now making a point of saying the word as much as possible to annoy Joel, but then went back to her singing, 'I don't wanna be a chicken, I don't wanna be a duck, da da da da.'

She clapped loudly four times then repeated her pattern,she could hear from here the crowd that surrounded her. This little crazy act was her way of coping with knowing that she was now going to be displayed to the whole world, in a chicken suit, why not have a little fun with it?

'Can I have your attention please?' came the ridiculous voice of a Capitol women, 'The parade is about to begin, so can I have all in your chariots?'

Joel picked Astra up and practically threw her into the chariot, 'Alright little chicken, funs over,' he said and did similar to Horace, 'Try to keep her from falling out Pipsqueak.'

Horace who'd gotten used to the nickname by now just nodded, 'Sure Joel.'

...

The people of the Capitol were on their feet, cheering and clapping in anticipation as the gates slowly opened on the far end of the long road, and gave off a massive cheer as the first Chariot rolled out the doors. The girl in the Chariot, which they'd all come to know as Shimmer, waved and blew kisses, her entire face lit up in a massive beam, and the crowd went wild for her, although the boy next to her didn't escape notice. He seemed extremely unhappy, not so much frowning as completely pokerfaced, he sort of just glared out of the carriage and then feeling obligated to do something he did a sort of vague half salute, which caused several of the younger girls in the audience to swoon and start a domino effect in the crowd knocking about twenty people over before it stopped.

More and more chariots flocked out and the crowd was getting louder and louder, and they all started laughing when they saw the girl from District Seven who didn't look like she knew the crowd was there, just had her arms back, the cape fluttering behind her. But they completely disregarded her the moment the carriage from District Ten came out and they saw what the girl was doing, she was still dancing, and occasionally stopping to wave at the crowd and yell:

'Hi! How are you?'

You could still hear her singing over the crowd because of the microphones that surrounded them, and up in the District One chariot, the boy started smiling. Orion could hear Astra singing all the way from where he stood in his carriage, and he couldn't stop the smile that flitted onto his face. He couldn't even see who was singing but he was doing his best not to laugh, that was when Shimmer beamed at him.

'Oh look, you're smiling,' she said then stretched out her hand expecting him to take it, 'You look so hot when you smile.'

He stared at her, the smile wiped off his face like clockwork, 'Not a chance, besides not smiling for you.'

'What do you mean?' she demanded.

But that was when the image on one of the screens popped up with an image of Astra, who dressed in her little chicken bikini was dancing, that was when Orion started laughing. Shimmer's mouth fell wide open. _He, _Orion, the person who never smiled and only laughed at things that randomly occurred to him in the middle of serious conversations, was laughing at this pathetic little... District Ten girl!

He waved at the crowd causing yet more swoons, and one by one all of the chariots came to a standstill outside the humungous mansion that from a balcony at the front, President Snow stood. President Snow, was small, thin, with paper white skin, and fluffy white hair and beard. Beside him stood the head game maker who they all knew as Seneca Crane, who as usual was sporting his extremely unusual, but judging by the way that Lyra burst out laughing, extremely hilarious beard.

Astra who'd stopped dancing was nudging Horace, 'Look, look.'

'I'm looking at him Astra.'

'Not the old guy, the guy next to the old guy, look at his beard, I will marry his beard,' she said not realizing that there were camera's trained on her every move.

Meanwhile in District One's chariot, Orion stood there, stroking his chin, clearly picturing himself with the same beard, then seemed to just nod to himself and started to listen to President Snow's speech, 'Tributes!' he sounded into the microphone, 'We honor your sacrifice!-'

Orion was already done with listening and went back to looking at the other tributes, but thats when he noticed what was happening in District Seven's chariot. The boy had one hand firmly clamped over the girls mouth, while she struggled to say something.

'Lyra be quiet,' Ike warned.

He got a muffled response so he half raised his hand, 'You really don't trust me at all do you?' she asked.

'Nope,' he said then put his hand back over her mouth.

Well that was until she licked him, 'Lyra!' he yelled.

'I'm not stupid enough to say anything blasphemous Ike, how much of an idiot do you think I am?' she asked him.

He shrugged but she knew he was thinking _yes, yes you are. _Knowing what he was thinking she smacked him around the back of the head, he knew why she'd done it though so he didn't even bother trying to complain.

'And may the odds be ever in your favor.'

Lyra was so close to saying _you are addressing twenty three soon to be dead, now how does that feel? _But due to her promising Ike to keep her mouth shut, she stayed quiet. Although she knew it wouldn't last long. Everyone knew it wouldn't last long, including Ike who then said:

'One word and I get out the duct tape.'

She pouted at him giving him a little smile, and then their chariots left the city circle and paraded into the training centre. Lyra leapt down from her carriage and that was when she noticed, that the girl from ten had dropped her headdress, she glanced at the people from one, she was going to have a little fun with this.

...

'You were absolutely spectacular out there! I didn't even know you could smile my dear, let alone that widely. You both looked amazing, the crowd loved you, the sponsors will-'

Orion filled in the rest of her words with _bladdy blah blah _but didn't dare say it out loud due to the fact Jet was standing right next to him, but it almost seemed like Shimmer wanted him to get hurt, because that was when she said, 'He didn't start smiling at all until he saw that ugly little brat from District Ten dancing around like a two year old.'

The response was out of his mouth before he could even stop it or consider what he was going to say, 'If she's ugly then you're a troll.'

Shimmer's mouth dropped wide open, and she gasped horrified at his response, Orion was positive he could hear someone laughing in the background but he didn't have a chance to find out who it was due to the fact that Jet proceeded to yell, 'What were you doing paying attention to that...'

'Wow you really need a thesaurus.'

Jet looked angry and about to grab him by the throat when suddenly a loud voice rang out, 'Oh look, the girl from ten dropped her headdress.'

Orion turned around at that to see he was addressing the girl from seven who was hiding a smirk, looking pointedly at the white feathered headdress lying on the floor less then a meter away from her, 'Its such a shame for it to be left behind,' she said her voice ringing with laughter.

That's when Orion made his first mistake, he picked up the headdress and began walking towards the girl from ten.

...

'You were dancing on the chariot?' Joel asked sounding very exasperated, 'Why were you dancing on the chariot.'

'Because you didn't tell Horace to stop me. You just told him to stop me falling out, which he had to, several times,' Astra said brightly, 'Besides the crowd loved me!'

Druella smiled at her though despite Joel's facepalm, 'of course they loved you dearie, you were brilliant, both of you.'

Astra beamed at her and turned to Joel, 'See?' then adding to Phanka, 'Plenty to work with I'm adorable.'

'Where is my headdress?' he demanded.

'Its on my head- oh whoops... must have fallen off... sorry Fanta.'

The purple haired man stormed off, followed by Horace's stylist and Astra offered the still there Horace, Joel and Druella an awkward smile, 'He doesn't like me does he?'

Joel and Horace shook their heads at her, and Druella offered her this, 'Well perhaps if you hadn't lost his headdress-' Druella cut off then.

That was when Astra felt someone tap her on the shoulder and she turned around and instantly said, 'Woah, you're shiny.'

The tall, dark haired boy, gave her a simple shrug, 'I'm not happy about it either. You dropped this.'

He was holding out the white feathered headdress to her, and instantly Astra went bright red, although under all the makeup it was impossible to tell, 'Ah... t-thank you.'

She stared at the headdress in his hand, to nervous to reach out and take it, until he held it out to her, making it clear she was supposed to take it, 'Oh right, sorry,' she took it back and then stuttered out again, 'th-thanks.'

'No problem,' he said and walked off.

Horace was giggling at something Joel had muttered to him and Astra turned around and then asked him, 'I called him shiny out loud didn't I?'

Joel and Horace both nodded at her and then Joel asked, 'Astra, is it just me or are you blushing?'

'No,' she said far too quickly.

'Yeah, sure,' Joel said winking at her.

'Ah young love,' Druella sighed.

'Shut up!' Astra snapped.

Horace simply looked confused, 'What?'

'Don't worry Pipsqueak I'll explain it later,' Joel said easily.

...

In District One, Orion's father, Alcor, was yelling at the TV, 'No no no, no no no! Don't look at her! Don't smile! Don't smile! No no no, no no no!... He smiled, oh brilliant.'

Orion's mother looked at him from where she sat on a nearby couch, 'What's the problem Alcor, this is the first time since he was five that I've seen him smile like that. He seems genuinely happy.'

'That is the problem!'

...

'Well played shiny.'

Orion turned around to see the girl from seven smiling at him clapping slowly, 'What?'

'She didn't realize she called you shiny out loud, it was freaking adorable.'

He shrugged at her, secretly agreeing though, she continued to smile at him though, 'I'm Lyra.'

'Orion,' he said shortly.

'I know, I hope this doesn't sound offensive but I've already made it my mission to annoy the hell out of the blonde bimbo you call a partner,' Lyra said still smiling at him, 'You paying attention to someone she judges beneath you is the best way yet.'

'Annoy her all you want, in fact I encourage you.'

'Really?' Lyra asked looking entertained.

He nodded giving a small mhm of confirmation, she smiled at him still, 'You don't talk much do you?'

To prove the point he simply shook his head, but that only made her smile grow, 'See you in training tomorrow,' and then if she couldn't annoy Shimmer more, kissed him on the cheek and skipped off.

As he walked back to the group from District One he was instantly clubbed over the back of the head by Jet, knocking the crown straight off his head, 'WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?'

'Act of random kindness?' he tried.

That only resulted in him getting hit again, 'Are you trying to give me brain damage?' he asked.

'With the way you act you don't have any brain cells to loose!' Jet yelled.

'Ooh thats low,' Orion said the sarcasm ringing in his voice.

Jet looked furious and stormed off, Aurora following him to try to calm him down, Epsilon glanced around, 'Well shall I take you to your rooms?' she asked.

Shimmer smiled at her and nodded in confirmation but the moment they started following Epsilon, she demanded, 'What the heck was that with the girls from seven and ten!' she snapped.

'I told you, act of random kindness,' he said.

'Ten maybe, but what the heck was that with seven!'

'You mean Lyra?'

'I don't care what her name is!' Shimmer yelled like it was a crime that he knew it, 'What the heck were you talking to her about?'

'About how stupid you look wearing that crown,' Orion commented and then ducked inside the elevator after Epsilon.

**Like I said, Lyra being Lyra, and well Orion can't get a break with Jet can he?**

_No, he can't. And yes, Astra was doing the chicken dance._

**But you would be doing the exact same thing would you Al?**

_Of course I would if I was wearing a chicken costume. You would join in though._

**...True, can Astra and Orion be any cuter?**

_Ohhh yes. Cuteness *happy sigh*_

**Well please review, and we'll put up our already prepared chapter, so you can see more of Orion, Lyra and Astra. So please review.**

**~Selina**

_I'm so excited, Yay. Reviews are awesome._

_:)Ally_


	9. Work Out

**Hells yes! We had reviews!**

_I can't believe it. This is like a dream come true!_

**I know, thank you Loopy, Hufflepuff and Anon! We are forever in your debt! Please keep reviewing, and I encourage you all to follow their example and review!**

_Yay, lets all play follow the leader!_

**Speaking of playing, our tributes are learning about how to play the Hunger Games! Its time for the training to begin!**

_Ooh training! fun. Hopefully you'll get some laughs out of this._

**We both know we did while writing it, mostly from picturing the looks on Shimmer's face, because Orion, Lyra and Astra are doing everything in their power to annoy her.**

_And when those three put their minds to somethings, you can be sure that is one awful lot of annoyingness._

**I almost feel sorry for Shimmer... Nope still don't. Training centre here we come!**

Chapter 9: Work out

'In a month, twenty three of you will be dead, one of you shall be alive. The difference between life and death will depend on what you do with your time here. Some of these exercises are compulsory, the rest are optional. I urge to ignore the survival skills, everyone wants to pick up a sword, but many of you will from natural causes not weapons.'

The twenty four tributes that stood around Atala, all of them were dressed identically, white t-shirt, black track pants, and sturdy black boots. They were standing in district order, although no one could fail to notice that in District Ten the girl was the same height as her male counterpart despite a near to three year age gap. One by one they slowly went out to other activities. The careers instantly gravitated to the weapon stands, firing arrows, throwing axes and knives, obviously showing off, intimidating a great deal of the tributes. The only one who went to a non-weapon task was Orion, who was already fiddling with a pair of sticks to start a fire.

Ten meters above everyones heads, Lyra was hanging upside down from intwined mesh on the ceiling. Astra was at the knot tying station, involved in a rapped conversation with Ike as he taught the younger girl how to make a bear trap, which she was catching onto fast and already suggesting different methods to improve it, which had Ike laughing.

'We could make it out of barbed wire!' she said enthusiastically.

'If you enjoy having your hands scratched to bits while making the trap, sure,' he said humoring her.

'I have to deal with Bessie the cow, my hands are very tough.'

The sound of Ike's laughter lit up the training centre, and Lyra dramatically dropped down from the ceiling to stand behind them making both of them jump and in Astra's case squeal and jump into Ike's arms, 'Oh calm down sweetie,' Lyra laughed.

'So you're not going to eat us?' Astra asked.

'No sweetie,' Lyra said patiently.

'Okay then.'

'Ah Astra, do you mind if I put you down now?' Ike asked.

'But you're comfy!'

'Sweetie,' Lyra said forcefully.

'Fine then,' Astra said, getting down but pouting like a two year old.

'Would you like me to show you a rabbit trap?'

'Ooh! Yay!'

Lyra laughed and kept walking through the training centre, and only came to a stop when Orion landed heavily on his back, right at her feet, 'Morning starshine.'

He glared at her, but then at the climbing frame above him which he hadn't realized moved, 'I hate gravity.'

'Of course you do, now up you come,' she said and pulled him to his feet.

He found it strange how helpful she was being but shrugged it off, until she pointed at the climbing frame and said, 'Up you go.'

'Again?'

'Yes again, I'll see what you're doing wrong this time so you don't fall on your fat ass as much.'

He frowned but went back to climbing, but the second the thing tilted he fell straight off, and landed directly at her feet again, 'Wow, your grip is horrible,' she commented.

'Why does it spin?' he grumbled moodily.

'Back up, now.'

'You're enjoying seeing me in pain aren't you?'

'Just a little, now back up.'

He groaned and started climbing up but he was surprised to find Lyra leapt up on the other side of the climbing frame, and pointed to his hand, 'Put your thumb on the other side moron.'

'What?'

'Like I said your grip is horrible, now make the adjustment,' she insisted.

He did as he was told and managed to climb a bit further this time, but when he went to give her a thumbs up, he fell from an even greater height, 'Nice move brainiac,' she said dropping down next to him with ease, 'Next time don't get so distracted.'

He glared at her still, 'How do you keep doing that?' he asked.

'District Seven, this is what I do for a living,' she said and then pulled him to his feet, and dusted off his hair, then led him over to the climbing frame again, holding his hand.

'Ah, what are you doing?' he asked.

'Have you seen the look on dear blondie's face?' Lyra asked innocently.

He glanced over at Shimmer, who had her bow drawn, a shocked, disgusted scowl, looking ready to kill, staring at Lyra and himself in pure hatred. Well until her bowstring snapped that is, and it made a small scratch on her ever so precious face, causing her to squeal and throw the bow at a wall.

Orion turned back to Lyra, a smirk lighting up his face, 'Carry on then.'

'I knew you'd see it my way.'

...

The lunch break was welcomed by the now out of breath and sweating tributes who'd been working hard since ten. Orion some how found himself among the careers again, even though he'd made a point of ignoring them the entire morning. Kali and Seir were merely exchanging glances every now and then, jerking their heads in the direction of another tribute and laughing, both clearly having the same thought. Shimmer was moaning to Lilith about her beautiful face being ruined, Lilith was half sympathetic. Botis walked near him, Orion couldn't help but think that not only was Botis six and half feet tall, he definitely outweighed him by at least thirty kilos.

Orion was contemplating how he got stuck with them for the next however long lunch ran for, until he heard a call, 'Oi, Gravity challenged moron, get your ass over here.'

Orion had no doubt at all who was calling, and who they were referring too, but Seir clearly didn't have a clue because he glanced at the nearby Farrow and then muttered to the other Careers, 'Gravity challenged moron?'

Shimmer and Lilith both shrugged but that was until another call rang out, 'Yes, Orion I mean you, get your butt over here now.'

The Careers stared at him and Orion offered them a shrug and a slight wave goodbye but moved gratefully over to Lyra, 'Finally, I thought you were deaf or something,' she said.

Lyra was surrounded by a small group of people, all of which were eating, one why one Lyra pointed to them, 'Ike, you won't be able to get within a twenty meter radius of him because of his bear traps.'

'Yeah keep him thinking that bear traps are the only thing he should look out for,' Ike said but grinned at Orion as he sat down.

'This is Pipsqueak.'

The little wide eyed boy frowned at her, 'Horace.'

'No, Pipsqueak.'

'You are far to much like Joel,' Horace muttered into his stew.

'This is Charix, she talks about the same amount you do,' she said off handedly.

Charix went bright red in the face and tried to sink out of sight, but Lyra clearly wasn't done when she said, 'In fact she probably talks more than you do. This is Sparky.'

'Aren't you are Career?' the little blonde boy said guardedly, positioning himself in front of the little girl beside him.

'Depends who you ask, ask my District, then yes, ask Lyra, I'm simply a gravity challenged idiot.'

'You mean moron.'

'Close enough.'

Sparky sort of half relented and then went back to shoveling stew in his mouth as fast as possible, 'This little sweetie is Iris.'

The little girl looked up at him, and gave him a sweet smile, 'Hi Orion.'

She was frankly one of the most adorable things he'd ever seen so he gave her his best attempt at a smile, 'Oh and this is Belle, I'm not sure which one is more adorable so far.'

Belle gave him a little grin, pushed her hair behind her ear and went back to eating, he remembered seeing her making a hammock before, then falling asleep for twenty minutes, 'And lastly our famous little chicken dancer, Astra Vee.'

Orion turned around and saw the little blonde haired girl sitting directly next to him, choke on her drink and spit half of it onto her plate, she was going bright pink in the cheeks and then instantly spat out, 'Shiny, when did you get here?'

That earned her a laugh from the other tributes at the table, he quirked an eyebrow at her, 'You really need to stop calling me shiny.'

She was going redder by the second but she managed to get out, 'But you were shiny, in fact you're still shiny!'

He had no idea what she was talking about until she picked up a napkin, licked it, and started scrubbing at his eyebrow. He tried to pull her off, but she smacked his hands away and continued scrubbing, before sitting back down and started to eat again like nothing had happened. But he couldn't help but notice that there was a big glop of silver paint which she must have pulled out of his eyebrow.

'Oh right, thanks.'

He heard laughter he recognised as Lyra's but when he glanced at her, she jerked her head in the direction of the careers. None of them looked particularly impressed. One glance at Shimmer told him that if looks could kill he'd be dead three times over. Kali and Seir were exchanging clearly annoyed looks. Botis didn't seem to have even noticed let alone care. Lilith was glaring directly at everyone else at the table apart from him, probably having a violent death planned for them all.

He tuned back into the conversation only to hear Astra yell at Iris, 'Stop being right about everything!'

He glanced at Lyra for an explanation only for her to say, 'Nice choice in girlfriend, she loses arguments to twelve year olds.'

Astra bloomed bright red, and Orion felt distinctly uncomfortable with Lyra's way of putting things, that was when Lyra pretended to sneeze, 'Blushing.'

Ike, Sparky and Horace started laughing, and Iris, Belle and Charix were exchanging knowing looks. Astra then shoved a massive piece of lamb into her mouth and sat there chewing determinedly not looking at him. Orion followed suit and became very engaged by dipping a large hunk of bread into the soup.

...

Astra lay on the floor on her back breathing evenly and deeply, vaguely wondering why no one had stepped on her yet. She was lying in the middle of a walk way for gods sake, and it wasn't like they could see her, she was to well camouflaged. Her wish to be stepped was granted soon enough when Orion walking past, tripped straight over her. He fell flat on his stomach on the floor.

'What the heck?' he muttered.

For a long second Astra tried to stay quiet, before she couldn't help it anymore and burst out laughing, Orion rolled over to look at her and found her, painted like the carpet, giggling like a moron, how had he not seen her?

'Astra? What were you doing?'

'Sleeping... and lying in wait for someone to trip over me.'

'You're lucky it wasn't Lilith, she'd probably spear you,' he said.

'Really?'

'Mhm.'

'Oh... Icky.'

He hid another smile but instantly she asked him, 'Why do you hide smiles? You look cute when you smile... Did I just say that out loud?'

'Yes, yes you did,' Lyra commented as she swept past, a smug smirk on her face.

Astra blushed and looked back over at Orion, 'Sorry.'

'Ah... no problem. Particular reason why you were sleeping?'

'Couldn't sleep last night, the room was too quiet.'

'Huh?'

'I'm used to sleeping with eight other people in the room,' she said casually.

'Eight?' he asked.

'Mhm, Mum, Dad, Alec, Carter, Roy, Sera, Hayden and Hunter. Dad, Alec and Carter snore, Roy sleepwalks, Sera sleep talks, Mum whistles, and Hayden and Hunter fight while fast asleep, I guess its a twin thing.'

'...You have a big family,' was his only comment.

'Yeah, I used to have another brother though, but he died,' she commented like it was nothing, 'How big is your family?'

'...I'm an only child.'

'Really? That would suck!'

But he couldn't help but ask, 'What exactly happened to your other brother?'

'Finn? Killed in the bloodbath at the Cornucopia five years ago, some guy from District Four impaled him,' Astra said far to casually.

He instantly regretted asking it, and hurriedly changed the subject, 'My mentor snores like a wild hog, I could record him if you want.'

'Really?' she said sounding far too excited.

'Yeah and maybe I could mix it in with Shimmer's mumbling, she sleep talks, I could hear her through the wall last night, muttering about carbs and cholesterol.'

'Would you? Would you really?'

'Yeah, anything for blackmail material,' he offered.

'Cool, thanks,' she said happily, 'I'm going to go wash off so I can play with some sharp things.'

Orion watched her as she skipped off, and couldn't help but think to himself _her with sharp things? I think we should all be concerned. _That's when he realized he was still sitting on the floor, and glancing around awkwardly, he picked himself up and decided he might as well go over to the katana now.

...

Lyra walked towards the knife throwing station, and went to pick up one of the knives when out of no where she felt her legs get scythed out from underneath her, 'Oh I'm so sorry,' came the voice Lyra recognised as the girl from District Two.

Kali was even more intimidating than her picture had led her to believe, Kali was trying to unnerve her, but the thing was she didn't know about Lyra's temper, she was forced to duck as a knife flew through the air striking the wall, sinking it in up to its hilt, where Kali's head had been moments before, 'Oh I'm so sorry,' Lyra mimicked, 'My hand must have slipped.'

She heard a choking laughter she recognised as Ike's and turned back to face the knife throwing station only to see the trainer gaping at her, 'What?'

'You clearly have some skill in throwing knives already,' the instructor said.

'Well I've never been trained... oh well who knows,' she picked up another knife and flung it at the target.

It sunk directly into the bullseye mark and Lyra blinked at it, only to hear Kali's haughty voice, 'Beginners luck.'

Lyra determined to prove her wrong picked up another knife and sent it spiraling through the air where it sunk into another target, another perfect bullseye, 'You were saying?' she said innocently, despite having no clue how she'd managed that.

'Double beginners luck,' Kali spat.

'Oh really, how about we see if you can duck twice?'

Kali glanced at her then walked off to join Seir and Lilith, and instantly they started muttering and murmuring to each other, Lyra felt them keep glancing at her and went back to the targets. And then flung all of the remaining knives in quick succession, each hitting exactly where she'd aimed.

'You know what? I think I'm going to keep a few of these.'

...

'No no no, you doing it all wrong,' the instructor once again grabbed Astra's hands and pulled the sword away from her, 'you hold it like this.'

'Ohh, like this,' she snatched the sword back and tried to copy him.

'No, like this.'

'I just did that!'

'No you didn't, you did this.'

'That's exactly the same thing!'

'No its not!'

'Yes it is.'

'No its not!'

'Yes it is!'

'No its- Just go and stab the dummy!'

'Fine,' Astra said and crossed over to he dummy, continuously poking it with the tip of her sword constantly making little, 'Meh,' sounds.

'You're doing that wrong,' Orion commented suddenly appeared behind her.

She whipped around surprised, forgetting about the sword in her hands, there was a loud clang of metal on metal as he blocked her with surprising ease, a sword in either hand, 'Oops, sorry shiny.'

'Do you need help?'

'He's supposed to be helping me, but he keeps telling me I'm doing it wrong when I'm doing it the exact same way he told me to,' she said innocently.

Orion glared at the instructor who looked scandalized, 'You really shouldn't confuse her.'

'Excuse-'

But Orion had already turned back to Astra, 'Do you want me to help you?'

She went a little pink and nodded, 'Yes please.'

He put the katana he'd been using down and looked at the way she was gripping the sword, he smirked and came around behind her, placing his hands over hers, in a slight bear hug, causing Astra to go bright red, 'Ah...'

'Here, move your hand there, and hold it like that,' he said moving her hands for her.

The only comment he got from Astra was another, 'Ah...'

'Now try stabbing it,' he said with another smile.

Astra still bright red in the face, crossed to the dummy and poking it with the tip of her sword into the chest, Orion rolled his eyes, and came up behind her, 'You aren't going to stab it if you do that. If you're a beginner, I would recommend stabbing through the stomach.'

'But why not the chest?' she asked.

'Because there's bone there,' he said tapping his own chest to demonstrate, 'There's nothing protecting the stomach. Unless you go from behind, but we'll avoid that.'

'With your abs there's plenty of protection for your stomach... I said that out loud again didn't I?'

Orion nodded slowly, making Astra go even redder but Orion was trying not to laugh, unable to stop thinking how cute she looked when she was blushing, 'Now try stabbing it in the stomach.'

Astra continued to turn back to the dummy, but the same, 'Meh, meh, meh, meh,' barely scratching the paint on the dummies stomach.

'Astra?'

'What?' she asked, turning around and beginning to poke him in the stomach, 'Meh, meh, meh.'

'Astra that doesn't even hurt,' he told her.

She frowned and began poking him a little harder, 'Meh, meh, meh, meh.'

'Astra you're supposed to do it as hard as you can.'

'Oh like this?' she said beginning to draw back her arms but he jumped out of the way.

'Preferably not at me, at the dummy,' he told her.

'Oh right,' she said realizing what she had been about to do, 'My bad.'

She turned around to the dummy and then thrust her sword at it, the tip of the sword went in about an inch and she grinned, 'I won! I won! I won!'

He stared at her, 'that's actually easy to survive, you need to go in further.'

'Have you survived it?' she looked slightly put out, but then noticed the expression on his face, 'You have haven't you?'

'That's for me to know and you to find out,' he said.

'How much harder do I need to do it then?' she asked curiously.

'Here,' he said and putting both arms around her again, pulled her arms back and then combining his strength with hers, he forced the sword forward.

It buried itself up to the hilt in the dummy's stomach and Astra promptly let go of the handle, 'Woah.'

He smiled at her, 'That's how hard you need to do it.'

She looked stunned and a little scared for a second before suddenly smiling like a maniac and asking, 'How do you decapitate someone?'

It was Orion's turn to look a little scared but he eventually managed a laugh and picked up his katana again, 'Watch very carefully.'

But before she could even blink he had spun like a ninja and suddenly two dummy head lay at her feet, 'Woah... I completely missed that, can you do that again in slow motion?'

'It doesn't work in slow motion,' he told her, conscious of the fact that the instructor's mouth was hanging wide open.

'Aww... I want it in slo-mo.'

'You can't, you have to be fast, strong and deadly, you can't hesitate at all,' he suddenly realized he sounded exactly like his father then cleared his throat and said, 'well in any event, you've got the wrong grip for a slice.'

'I do?'

'Yes, it changes a little bit here,' he said and both arms wrapped around her again, only to make a very slight adjustment of her hand.

'Ah... You know you can just fix it from the front.'

'What's the fun in that?' he said distractedly.

Orion didn't have a clue that Astra didn't know he was pissing off Shimmer on purpose. He didn't know that without that context, how flirty that actually sounded. He didn't seem to notice how bright red Astra had just gone, or that Lyra hanging from the ceiling nearby, was laughing her head off.

**Naww can they get any cuter?**

_Ahhh, i'm going to die of cuteness overdoes. So adorable!_

**I know, his ignorance is adorable, her personality and incompetence is adorable. I can really see why Lyra couldn't stop laughing.**

_I think we all would if we were there. 'Meh, Meh, meh'_

**Well I know you would, but then again so many sharp things, you could live there happily for the rest of your life.**

_Indeed I could. Muhahaha._

**Well see you lot next time, and please review so we can keep posting, ta ta for now**

**~Selina**

_Hey, that's my line. Goodbye our dear readers, we will be back_

_:) Ally_


	10. When the Capitol isn't watching

**Well you could say this chapter is interesting, we have Orion getting Jet pissed off, Lyra being ridiculously observant and Astra in a weird mood.**

_And Shimmer is being a (insert B word here)_

**What is your problem with saying the word bitch? **

_I don't know I just don't like it._

**So anyway its a rather short chapter, but we are quite fond of it.**

_It's not that short._

**I guess not, but my chapters are usually a bit longer, what I mean is its a bit of a filler.**

_Yeah your chapters are super long. Which is what makes them awesome. Mine are all really short. _

_Oh well fillers are cool. Especially this one._

**And without any further rambling, here we go!**

Chapter 10: When the Capitol isn't watching

'You are unbelievable. How could you associate with those-with those…lower life forms?' Shimmer shrieked as the exited the elevator at their floor.

Orion walked along beside her, comfortably ignoring everything she was saying, 'How could you? Orion are you even listening to me?'

'Sorry, did you say something?' Orion turned to look at her, having only just tuned back into reality.

'Why you little…' Shimmer shrieked again, looking set to pounce when a hand grabbed her shoulder.

'Now, now Shimmer, what's the matter?' Jet asked.

Shimmer seemed more than happy to say everything on her mind. Orion felt really tempted to run away as she glared daggers at him.

'Orion's been ignoring the Careers all day,' she started.

Jet glared at him but thankfully Orion found that one wasn't too hard to wriggle out of, 'I've been… talking to the other tributes. Trying to see which ones we should be worried about and which ones would be useful, you know.'

Shimmer glared at him in disbelief but Jet looked convinced which was a relief, 'Anything so far?'

Heartened Orion continued, 'They all seem pretty hopeless actually. Except for the girl from District Seven. I saw her throwing knives at one point. Her aim's just as good as Kali's, except she's actually faster with them, but that might have been to do with her being aggravated at the time. Seir mentioned he was going to watch her tomorrow to see if we should invite her into the group.'

'She was helping you on the climbing thing!' Shimmer snapped suddenly, really not liking the idea of Lyra in their group.

Jet once again looked interested, hastily Orion explained his way out of it, 'Again, I was trying to establish how much of a threat people are. I really think that she would make a good addition to the career group. Her skills are quite impressive,' Orion said smoothly. Jet was nodding his head, obviously approving of Orion's _method_, much to Shimmers annoyance and Orion's relief. Before Shimmer could say that he hadn't sat with the careers during the lunch break he quickly volunteered the information, 'I sat with another group at lunch break, just to see what they were like. There was nothing of real importance. They're all really young and most of them don't have any proper skills, except for hammock making, and one knows bear traps but thats about it.'

'Good, good,' Jet nodded slowly, 'I like what you're doing Orion. Gaining the others trust, it's a good plan.'

'Yeah,' Orion nodded; as if that was what he had been doing all along instead of avoiding the career group.

Shimmer was just getting more and more annoyed that nothing was working. She was obviously on a mission to get Orion punished for something but so far he had managed to wriggle out of everything. Then she suddenly grinned.

'What about the District Ten girl? You were very happy to help her. And I'm pretty sure it wasn't just because you were _gathering information_" She sneered nastily, the expression not suiting her pretty face.

That really stumped Orion who couldn't think of anything clever to say, Jet frowned at Shimmer who nodded happily, 'I saw him. Teaching her how to use a sword. You really looked like you were enjoying yourself,' She glared haughtily at him and crossed her arms.

'Is that true?' Jet demanded, 'Were you helping her?'

'Um…yes,' Orion couldn't think of anything else to say and lying would just make it worse.

Jet snarled and grabbed his shirt, slamming him hard into the wall, knocking the air from his lungs, 'Accepting help to find out more about people I can deal with. But going up to someone of your own accord and offering your own help. No.'

'But she had no idea what she was doing…' Orion protested.

'She looked like she was doing pretty well after, oh what was it, two hours? You must be a really good teacher,' Shimmer laughed.

Jet moved his hand so it was gripping Orion's throat, not hard enough to choke him but enough to make talking hard, 'So you taught her how to use a weapon? Well that's just brilliant,' Jet snarled.

'Is it illegal for me to be friendly-ouch,' Jet had just slammed him even harder into the wall, making a few of the pictures rattle. Something sharp bit into the back of his neck and into the exposed skin of his arm, making him wince.

'You're just lucky that I need you for the games, because otherwise I would kill you,' Jet growled, tightening his grip on Orion's throat just to prove his point, 'If I hear that you've been associating with anyone other than the careers tomorrow I will not be nearly so kind. Understand?'

Orion nodded carefully. With a grunt of contempt Jet flung Orion to the floor at Shimmers feet before storming off, grumbling. Orion looked up at the shattered picture frame which Jet had slammed him into. A few of the glass shards were tipped with red and when he looked down at his arm he saw a shallow slice. He raised his hand to back of his neck and felt a few beads of blood there as well. Shimmer knelt down beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders to help him sit up and took his bleeding arm.

'You're hurt. I'm sorry about that Orion, but it's really for your own good. You shouldn't be hanging around with them,' She crooned, ever so gently stroking his hair 'Do you want me to take you to the hospital wing to get that looked at?'

Orion shook his head 'I don't want your help,' he muttered, 'save your breath.'

Ignoring her protests he stood, rather unsteadily and stormed off to his room. Once he had safely locked the door behind him he sat down heavily on the bed. Stupid Shimmer and her big mouth. He didn't feel guilty about hanging out with the other districts tributes, not in the slightest. In fact he really wanted to do the same thing tomorrow just to get on Jet's nerves.

He hadn't been kidding when he had said that Lyra would have made a good addition to the careers. Well she would have if she wasn't Lyra, he'd seen her temper, and he'd talked quite a bit to her. He didn't expect her to want to join the others, heck; he didn't want to be a career. Seir would still ask her though but he knew that she would refuse. He just hoped she had the brains not to get on Seir's bad side.

_I saw him. Teaching her how to use a sword. You really looked like you were enjoying yourself!_ Did he feel guilty about teaching Astra? No, no he didn't. He had had a lot of fun teaching her and she had appeared to be enjoying herself. He had no idea why he was showing so much interest in her. Maybe it was just how innocent and happy she was, made him feel sorry for her or…no; he refused to even consider the other option.

Carefully he washed out the cut on his arm, it wasn't deep or anything but it still stung slightly. The last thing he needed was an infection. Even a wound this size could very easily become a big problem, as he had found out the hard way many years ago. As it was still leaking blood rather persistently he decided to find an Avox and ask for a first aid kit. He found one just out in the hall, carrying a small pile of towels.

'Excuse me,' he asked carefully. The Avox instantly turned and stood to attention, ready to receive orders, 'would it be possible to get a first aid kit?'

The Avox looked down at his bleeding arm and nodded quickly. She was just about to leave when Orion thought of something else.

'Also would it be possible to get a recorder of some kind?'

The Avox processed the order for a second then nodded in assent. After waiting a moment to see if he wanted anything else she hastened down the hall to the elevator. Feeling very sorry for the young woman Orion quickly and quietly slipped into his room once more, hoping that Jet wouldn't come knocking.

Not wanting to remain in his dirty training gear Orion quickly showered and changed into a blue high necked jumper and loose black trousers. He came out of the bathroom toweling his hair and saw the Avox depositing a small white box and black bag onto his bed.

'Thank you,' he said gratefully, the Avox pointed at the first aid kit, then at his arm, in a silent question, obviously asking if he needed help, 'Oh…no, no thanks. I'm fine.'

Nodding quickly she hastened out of the room. After hanging his towel back on the railing Orion quickly began to inspect the recorder. It was a simple black box with two tapes. Nothing extraordinary. It would be quite easy to hide thankfully. The last thing he needed was Jet stumbling upon it in the middle of the night. He smiled grimly as he imagined his mentor's reaction. After he had figured out how the recorder worked he stuck his head out of the door to see if the coast was clear. He could hear Jet talking to Aurora in the lounge room and he could hear the shower running in Shimmers room as well as her off key singing. Silently he slipped into Jet's room.

'Oh I must be suicidal,' he muttered as he hid it near the bed, 'I just hope Jet doesn't find out.'

He had just slipped back down the corridor when he bumped into Jet again. The bigger man barred his path without any effort and the look on his face made Orion's stomach drop. Had he just been caught?

'We're about to have dinner,' Jet said bluntly and suddenly, Orion didn't talk, he just nodded. Jet, who seemed to have calmed down again, gestured at the dining room, 'Come on then.'

He was about to leave when he saw Orion's arm, which was still bleeding ever so slightly, 'Actually deal with that arm first. You'll give Epsilon and Aurora a heart attack.'

Orion scurried back to his room gratefully, finally breathing again. He had been convinced that Jet had caught him. Once he had stuck a thin layer of gauze over the cut on his arm he hurried off to the dining room where Shimmer was already chatting about how good she was with a bow.

...

'So tomorrow you'll go back down to the training rooms-' Xandra began

'You said it was the training centre,' Lyra interrupted

'Yes it is a training centre, the entire building is the training centre but there's another floor where you actually train,' Xandra started to explain.

Lyra just glared at her, sapphire eyes sparking with annoyance, 'So this is a thirteen floor building called the training centre, yet only one room is used to actually train? Does this make sense to you Ike? It certainly doesn't to me.'

'Lyra can you please just let it go?' Ike asked sounding exasperated with her.

'No, no I can't. Let's not call this building the training centre. Lets call this part the dorms or the rooms or the hotel section or more likely the prison cells. We'll call that one floor the training centre, we clear?'

'Lyra-' Xandra tried.

'You go along with it on the pain of death.'

With that she left the room and went back to her own, sighing impatiently to herself, and then pulled out the large notepad that she'd asked a Avox to get her. She felt sorry for the Avox's, she really did, but she knew for now that she was in no position to help them so she'd acted like she didn't think it was despicable in the slightest that someone could be tortured this way. And with a sigh pushing the thoughts to the back of her head to avoid her doing something stupid, she collapsed against the bed and began writing in the book, noting down everything that she'd learnt today.

She'd destroyed Mina's files before she got to the Capitol but she still had memorized every scrap of information on it, and she was already putting some of Mina's suggestions into action. She'd found it surprisingly easy to get the little girl from Ten on her side, Astra was freaking adorable, and as innocent and naive as she appeared, Lyra could see what Mina meant, she was very loyal, and there was almost something biting to her, not necessarily dangerous just... it was kind of hard to put your finger on it. But she knew Astra could be helpful.

And then there was the boy from District One and Lyra really couldn't help but notice what Mina and her father had meant, he wasn't your average career. First of all he hated his district partner and didn't seem particularly fond of the other careers including an extreme eye roll when she'd asked him if he was worried in the slightest about Seir throwing axes around so easily. He genuinely seemed like a good person, he had been about as nice as he could get to her earlier, not that he let down his guard though, but she understood that, this was the Hunger Games. He had been a little awkward especially when she'd been touching him when she'd helped him with the climbing frame, he'd relaxed when she'd told him she was just doing it to piss of Shimmer but he was still extremely guarded. The only person she'd seen him actually let down his guard in front of was Astra, and Lyra doubted he actually realized he was doing it.

Orion and Astra, were possibly the most ridiculously cute couple that she'd ever seen, but even though Astra's crush on him had taken all of five seconds to start he was completely oblivious to it. Although it wasn't like she couldn't see that he liked her, he just was less obvious about it. Lyra had guessed very early on that he wasn't someone who talked, let a lone smiled, and yet Astra seemed to pull it out of him. He's started smiling on the Chariot, and Lyra had been able to see him on the big screen, and as she could lipread, she had seen him distinctly say to Shimmer _I'm not smiling for you. _He definitely liked her, although she doubted he realized, it was a shame that one or both of them would be dead soon.

Lyra had a feeling he didn't really seem to know how to read people, he seemed smart enough, actually he seemed genuinely intelligent, but he didn't seem to know how to deal with people, and in a way Lyra was a bit like him. Although there was one critical difference, Lyra knew how to deal with people in a bad way, she knew how to provoke, intimidate, annoy and outright tear apart someone, she knew where they were weak and she was very good at acting on that and hitting those pressure points. Orion genuinely seemed like people confused him in general, not that he couldn't act like he was coping.

She started adding notes to the pages, each person had their own page, starting with girls in district order before continuing through boys, and started adding notes for what she'd learned today, she'd already written out what she'd gotten from Mina's dad. She started and noticed the first name, a faint smile lit her face as she realized just how much she had decided that if she was going to kill anyone in these games, she'd decided it would be Shimmer.

**1- Shimmer- Easy to anger, very good with that bow unfortunately, her judgement is swayed easily by her emotions though, could be useful. She's going to stick to Orion like glue in the games though.**

**2- Kali- Lethal, no other word for it. Too capable with those knives for comfort, but as stated in psyche test, probably couldn't last long without Seir, they're to in sync to be separated for long.**

**3- Iris- Such a little sweetie, unfortunately probably won't get far. Isn't useful enough to become allied with unfortunately, quick runner, thats about it.**

**4- Lilith- Almost as bitchy as Shimmer, but paranoid, and from what I've seen, superstitious, could come in handy, deadly with those damned spears though, although can't have a throwing range more then thirty paces, don't know how she handles up close fighting though, have to see about that.**

**5- Nakita- Possible ally, she's very capable, but I doubt she's interested, she's a natural born loner, will want to take care of herself most likely, but better watch out for that sword of hers, could be a problem.**

**6- Belle- Holy crap how adorable can she get. She might not be able to fight, but she seems handy enough with survival skills, she was whizzing through the edible plant section today, if left to her own devices she could last but I doubt she can avoid the career pack for to long.**

**8- Charix- She is a mute, I mean really, that might be a disadvantage most places but here? Who knows, I mean really, the less she talks the less likely she'll get caught, and its more then likely that the Capitol will feel ridiculously sorry for her, at least I hope they do, poor thing, but really if she's smart then she might last for quite some time.**

**9- Chance- Not quite as cute as Iris and Belle but really, she won't have much of a chance either. She's a bit of a cry baby from what I've seen, she kept to herself mostly today, I'll try to keep more of an eye on her tomorrow.**

**10- Astra- I can see why she'd make a good ally, I mean really, she isn't as stupid as she acts, the Capitol will fall in love with her if they haven't already, she'll have presents to spare. She seems to have a vague idea on what she's doing, and she doesn't realize how easily she can charm people, I mean really Orion is head over heels for her already, he's just to stubborn to admit it.**

**11- Ursula- Freaking genius, I talked to her later in the day, and frankly it was the best conversation that I've had in a long time. She may not be particularly pretty but she's got her own charm, she might just be capable of outsmarting everyone, I mean really I got lost talking to her.**

**12- Cady- Haven't seen to much of her, but I doubt she'll last, she was failing at the simplest of tasks, but she was fairly good at getting the instructors to give her extra help, from what I've read, she's prostituted herself before, who knows the Capitol might like that.**

She'd just turned the page to start writing on the guys when she heard a knock on her door and hastily she shoved it back underneath her pillow again before composing herself, throwing the pen away and saying, 'Come in!'

Ike opened the door and gave her a small smile, 'Esperanza and Verity are here, its time for dinner, plus Xandra wants a full overview of what you did today, my suggestion, skip out the bit where you befriended a Career, I doubt she'll like that.'

'Do you know how she won the games Ike?' she asked him shrewdly.

'No, how?'

'She got herself accepted into the careers alliance by showing off her skill with an axe and then the moment the last of the other tributes were dead she killed three of them in about a minute and went off to hide from the other three, she picked them off one by one from there, before getting into a brawl with the last and smashing her head in with a brick,' she told him, 'Frankly she'll probably find it a good thing that I befriended Orion, what I shouldn't mention is how much I've been annoying Shimmer.'

And with that said she walked out of the room, helping herself to humongous portions of food leaving a stunned Ike to process what she just said.

...

A tired out Horace and Astra couldn't have been happier when the elevator stopped at their floor. They were sharing with the District twelve tributes who were stone faced and silent. Somehow they had also wound up with the boy from District eight. They had all been slightly relieved when he had gone as he seemed to radiate an air of unpleasantness. Now they were all standing in silence, watching the ground shrink beneath them. Even Astra wasn't talking; she was just humming dreamily to herself, eyes glazed and far away. Horace wasn't about to disturb her, quite enjoying the few moments of peace.

Joel was waiting for them when they stepped out of the elevator, the usual stony expression on his face.

'You're still alive are you?' he prompted them. Astra glided past, ignoring him entirely. She continued humming as she spun down the hall, before disappearing into her room and closing the door, in a completely un-Astra way. Horace shrugged at Joel's confused expression.

'Don't ask,' He said as Joel frowned after her, 'She's been like that for hours.'

'O-o-k-a-a-y then,' Joel nodded slowly, 'how are you Pipsqueak. Is there anything interesting to report?'

'Can I tell you after I've cleaned up?' Horace asked, indicating his sweaty body. Joel shrugged and nodded and Horace hurried off to his room. Through the wall he could hear Astra singing softly in a quiet, high, sweet voice. He couldn't hear the words but it sounded quite happy. He vaguely wondered if her sudden change in mood had anything to do with the District One boy. But within half an hour, he realized he shouldn't have worried.

'That was fun wasn't it Horace. I mean, I got to use a sword. A real sword. And Ike showed me how to make bear traps. What did you do Horace? I saw you making a fire at one point. Was it fun? It looked like fun. Did you get to burn stuff? That would be really cool…'

In the time it had taken for both of them to shower and change Astra had perked up once again, going back to her normal hyperactive self. She had spent the first ten minutes of dinner babbling about how awesome the showers were and wondering if she smelt of lemons. Horace had informed that she did, which she seemed quite pleased about. It wasn't hard to miss that she had also taken more care with her appearance this time, having styled her hair into delicate pixie like spikes, pushed back with a green headband and she was wearing a silky green, one shouldered top and a set of flowing white trousers, quite the opposite to Horace who had pulled out a set of dark tracksuit pants and an overlarge white jumper which hung off his skinny shoulders. He hadn't even brushed his hair, leaving it sticking up all over the place. Druella wasn't pleased by this, she was wearing a bright red fluffy dress and diamond platform shoes and her yellow hair was piled on top of her head, making her look more freakish than usual.

'So what did you actually learn today?' Joel asked above Astra's babbling. Druella leaned forward on the table, putting away her mirror. Both kids were grateful that the stylists weren't there, as neither of them had forgotten the chicken suits that they had been forced to wear. Phanka still wasn't pleased with Astra, even though she had returned her headdress to him in one piece. Druella had assured her it was due to the fact that she had made him walk back outside to look for it and that she had risked damaging his _master piece._

'I learnt how to make traps,' Astra started them off, 'and I'm alright with edible plants. I tried archery but I failed…'

'You're alright with a spear,' Horace piped up, having watched her throw a spear into a dummies stomach.

'Mm. Oh and I can camouflage. Really well,' she seemed very proud of that.

'You're forgetting something,' Horace prompted, 'What about your sword lesson? You seemed to enjoy that!'

Astra instantly went bright red and looked away. Joel arched an eyebrow, well the only eyebrow he had left, at her reaction, 'Dare I ask?'

'Igothelpfromthedistrictoneguy,' Astra mumbled, so quietly no one could hear her.

Joel frowned, 'Sorry, I couldn't hear that.'

'I got help…fromthedistrictoneguy.'

Joel rolled his eye and stared at her, 'Come on sunshine. Spit it out.'

'I got help from the district one guy,' Astra finally said, loud enough for them to hear. Joel dropped his spoon into his soup and let his mouth drop open.

'Er…come again?' he asked carefully.

'The guy from district one helped me learn how to sword fight,' Astra said, much more boldly now.

'And why would he do that?'

'Beats me. But he was really nice to me; he didn't act cross or anything when I poked him in the tummy. And he taught me how to decapitate, which is really cool,' Astra was grinning broadly now, earlier embarrassment gone.

'He sat with us at lunch too, well he was invited by another girl, but he was there,' Horace chimed in, by this point it was hard to tell whether Joel was mad or exasperated, 'What? Do you think that he has some kind of hidden motive?'

'I don't know. It isn't normal for the tributes from District One to associate with people outside of the career group. Unless someone is showing talent with a weapon. Were you?' he turned to Astra who shook her head.

'Nope. I can't use a weapon. I'm better at hiding. Yay,' She grinned and suddenly went back to eating.

'Is there anything else to report? Apart from future boyfriends?'

'Da url from even is ice,' Astra muttered through a mouthful of food.

'Don't speak with your mouth full dearie' Druella reprimanded her, looking vaguely disgusted.

Astra swallowed quickly, 'The girl from Seven is really nice.'

Unknown to Lyra Astra had been watching her at the knife throwing station. Actually she had been watching her the whole day almost. Astra had been in awe of the climbing abilities that she had seen Lyra demonstrate, although she had been quick to remind herself that Lyra was from District Seven. And then she had watched as Lyra had visited the knife throwing centre and demonstrated a wicked aim. In fact she had nearly hit the girl from two in the head with a knife.

'I thought she was a bit odd actually, still don't know who told her about me getting called pipsqueak,' Horace mumbled,

'No…I think she's just misunderstood. She's not mean at all,' Astra grinned, 'And she's really talented…Joel are we allowed allies? I mean she nearly took a career's head off in practice today.'

'Yes…but be warned. Once you make an alliance it can be hard to break them and you don't know if you can really trust that person,' He stopped, 'Why? Were you thinking of asking this girl... What was her name?'

'Lyra, and yeah, I was actually,' Astra said

'Hmm…' Joel was silent as he thought about what he had just been presented with, 'I would say get to know her a bit first before you make any rash decisions. But Astra I really recommend sticking out by yourself. Yes, allies can make life easier but they can make it harder, especially if you have to kill them. That's why I struck out on my own.'

'Oh, okay then,' Astra looked undeniably crestfallen.

She went back to eating her potatoes in silence and Joel couldn't help but feel bad. It was clear enough that Astra had wanted Lyra as an ally, not just for her abilities, actually he doubted it had anything to do with her abilities seeing as it was Astra. Honestly, the reason Astra had asked as far as Joel could guess, is because she genuinely liked her and wanted a friend in the arena.

'That doesn't mean you can't ask her,' Joel said, trying to make her feel better.

'Mm-hmm,' was the only response he got, he decided to drop it and turned to Horace, 'What about you? What did you do today?'

'I worked with fires for the first few hours. I'm mostly reliant on matches though. I suck at edible plants and I can't make a hammock to save my life.'

'Any weapons?'

'I tried a mace. I made a dent in the wall. That's it.'

'Okay, so you aren't good with weapons?'

'I have a good aim…'

'Then try using a bow tomorrow. And Astra…' Her head popped up so she could look at him, 'Hang out with Lyra a bit more. And the District One guy. See how many things you can pick up.'

'Okay,' she said, looking a little happier since he mentioned hanging out with Orion.

The Avox's came around to clear the main course away and present them with desert, which was just as grand as the entrée and the main meal. Both Astra and Horace were promptly stuffing themselves, both trying to put on a few kilos before the games. Not that Joel had any objections; they were both underweight so what was the problem with them eating as much as they could. Druella it seemed had other ideas, and was constantly turning up her nose at what she deemed _disgraceful table manners_.

Astra let off a loud burp part way through desert, causing Horace to choke on his food in a hysterical laughing fit. Joel snorted in laughter as well as Astra giggled and tried to apologize to Druella who looked appalled. The blue skinned lady stood after a few seconds and strutted away from the table in a huff.

'Oops,' Astra said, making Joel laugh a little more, 'You should hear my Dad though. He makes the house shake.'

Horace laughed even harder and Joel lost the serious face and started laughing as well, especially when Astra let off another, much smaller burp, 'Whoops,' she covered her mouth, trying not to laugh too much, 'Oh cra-hic-ap. Now I've 'hic' got the 'hic' hiccups.'

By this point Horace was laughing so hard he couldn't form an understandable word. Joel was laughing pretty hard as well as Astra continue to hiccup.

'Stop 'hic' laug-hic-laughing,' she scowled, 'gr-hic-rrr.'

**Jet is such a jerk!**

_I know right! Grr he is so mean!_

**And Xandra is brutal.**

_Understatement of the century._

**...True, well next chapter we shall have more training.**

_And more annoying Shimmer, yay fun!_

**So please review and we'll see you next time.  
>~Selina<strong>

_Yep, we all love reviews._

_:) Ally_


	11. Paint Flinging and Axe Throwing

**Welcome us back people! Ally and Selina are back!**

_Well I highly doubt it's our dopplegangers._

**...Do you remember the code word for when the clone army attacks?**

_Did we come up with one? How about 'aaargh the clone army is attacking'?_

**I mean the one so we know which is the real us, not the clone us, just remember, you have to recite the true meaning of fuzzy.**

_Ooh yeah. Right. Because no one else knows what Fuzzy means!_

**EXACTLY! Well anyway readers, enjoy this next chapter:**

Chapter 11: Paint flinging and axe throwing

Much like the first day of training all the tributes were assembled around Atala as she talked to them, reminding them about the stations. The introduction was much shorter this time though, only lasting about two minutes. After that they separated and went off to the various stations. That is, everyone except for the careers went off. Ursula observed as Seir, a large, brutal boy, gathered the rest of the careers group up and began speaking to them in a coarse, authoritative voice, obviously not caring who overheard.

'We didn't do a good enough job yesterday. We have to intimidate the rest of them, not play buddy-buddy,' a cold glare was sent in the direction of Orion who returned it with a cool, blank expression, 'today we show them what we can do; we show them how good we are. Is that clear?'

Several nods of assent followed as the careers peeled off to the weapons stations. Ursula continued to observe them quietly from where she was creating a hammock. Her eyes followed Lilith as the District Four girl made a beeline for the spears. She was slightly taken aback as she hurled a spear from a good fifty meters away, straight into the dummies stomach. The instructor applauded her and Basil, who had been trying his hand at spear throwing, dropped his spear and scurried away. Apparently not noticing the looks or the praise, Lilith selected another spear and launched it once again at a different dummy, which was an even greater distance from her. The head of the spear buried itself up to the shaft in the dummies chest, earning her another round of applause.

Next her eyes flicked to Botis, eyeing his immense physic with calculating interest. Currently the bear like boy was engaged in hand to hand combat with one of the instructors and the instructor appeared to be losing. There was a thunderous clatter as the instructor was sent careening back into a weapons stand, knocking the implements all over the pale grey floor. Apparently Botis was one to rely solely on his strength, rather than a weapon. And for all his great strength he didn't appear to have any tactical experience, and preferred a straight forward pounding to any martial arts or fancy maneuvers. He watched with disinterest as the instructor he had just fought was taken away for medical treatment.

Ursula's next subject for surveillance was Kali. She was once again at the knife throwing station, examining the knives with a critical and practiced eye, before selecting several and moving to take her position in front of the targets. Her hands moved so fast they were almost a blur, if you hadn't been watching and specifically looking at her hands you would have missed it. In seemingly one fluid movement Kali flung her selection of knives at the dummies, each one hitting the heart, the jugular, the eye or right between the eyes, burying themselves up to the hilts. With a look of complete and utter contempt Kali flicked a stray strand of dark hair out of her cold eyes and strode confidently up to the dummies to retrieve her knives. Once again she resumed her place at the front of the station and, with the same terrifying accuracy, flung the knives back at the dummies.

In the station right next to Kali, Seir was weighing an axe in his hands. Sparky was hovering awkwardly just beside him, also staring at the various axes. Seir paid him no heed as he continued to study the axes. Then, with no warning, in a single lightning fast movement he spun with an axe gripped in his hand. There was a thwacking sound and a dummy clattered to the ground headless. He didn't hesitate as he twisted and buried the axe in the dummies chest, wrenched it out, decapitated the dummy and moved onto the next one. After barely two minutes had passed every dummy in the axe station was either headless or missing a limb of some kind.

A high, flirtatious laugh drew Ursula's gaze to the archery station. Shimmer had her hands on an elegant silver bow and was currently talking with the instructor, batting her eyelids as she did so. Then, as Ursula continued to scrutinize her she selected an arrow from the rack and moved off. Her arrow pierced the dummies throat, the next one the heart and the final the head, directly between the eyes. She smirked in a very stuck up manner, flipped her lush blond hair over her shoulder them strutted back to the arrow stand, where she selected several more arrows and said something to the instructor. He at once selected a choice of small feathery objects that looked like birds. With a final contemptuous look around the room Shimmer began shooting them down as he launched them into the air. Ursula had to admit that she was very good; she had obviously been training for this most of her life.

Her final subject for examination was Orion. He was the smallest of the male careers and probably the most skilled. He was currently in the sword fighting station, drilling with an instructor. Then he suddenly spun and before Ursula could blink the instructor was on his butt on the floor, with the tip of one katana pointed directly as his throat. Orion offered his hand to the instructor in a friendly manner before moving off to the dummies. He moved with such precision and speed that even she couldn't keep up with all of his moves as he spun, using the momentum to propel a blade into a dummy. The force of that single movement was so great that he completely impaled it, but lost no fluidity as he wrenched his katana out. He continued this complicated dance, for that was the only way she could describe it, for several minutes, spinning and weaving around imaginary foes until at last he decided that that was enough. When he stopped though, he wasn't even breathing hard, and that gave Ursula the distinct impression that he hadn't really been trying, that he had been holding back the entire time.

...

'They're watching you,' said a dark but disinterested voice.

Lyra glance at the boy from eight from where they crouched at the fire making station, 'The idiots from two? Yeah I know, they don't realize I have eyes in the back of my head.'

He shrugged once again seeming disinterested but Lyra took the moment to say, 'if I don't find out why soon then I'm going to have to move on from plotting Shimmer's murder and start on theirs.'

That seemed to wipe the expression of disinterest from his face, 'how violent is that exactly?'

'Several different methods have been planned, all more violent then the next,' Lyra shrugged effortlessly.

'In mine they involve her losing that pretty little face of hers,' he muttered.

Lyra looked at him in bewilderment before saying, 'It's Greg right?'

'Yes,' he said tonelessly.

'Well hello fellow psychopath, we must plan this carefully because there is no way I'm letting that girl's murder become any less horrific then the blonde brat deserves,' she said a smile flickering across her face.

'Have you ever heard of the blood eagle?' he asked her seeming just as amused.

'Yes! How have I not talked to you before? Did you shear her before beginning starting slicing her up?'

'Yes, unfortunately for her she had to watch it fall because here eyes aren't gouged out at this point,' he said levelly but definitely seeming amused.

Ike watched from a distance and shook his head to himself, he was already getting a bad feeling even before Lyra asked Greg almost fanatically, 'Did you use a lead sprinkler or a dagger or a skewer?'

'I forgot about the lead sprinkler, before I was using a rusted spoon.'

'Random yet painful, I like it.'

Ike knew for a fact that Lyra would never execute tortures like this, it was her way of getting rid of her sadistic side and joking around at the same time. Greg however? He wasn't quite sure. He'd been having a conversation with Charix earlier, he knew a bit of sign language, it was quite common actually in District Seven, seeing as by the time people reached about fifty, they'd inhaled so much wood dust that it was actually near impossible to understand them, you lived long enough you had to sign to get your point across. So knowing sign language meant he and Charix could talk to each other, and she'd told him all about Greg, that although no one ever caught him, he liked to completely torture animals to death, and chances were he was looking for a human target to play with during the games.

He didn't like how easily Lyra had started to trust him, she thought his interest was the same as hers, theoretical. But as he stared at Lyra with cold eyes and Ike couldn't help but think that even though they were discussing Shimmer's death, Greg was already planning a horrible end for Lyra.

...

'Orion, why won't you talk to me? That is just rude. Are you still mad about yesterday? I said I was sorry,' Shimmer strutted beside Orion as they made their way to the next station at training.

She was refusing to let him out of her sight, hell she was even refusing to let go of his arm. After Jets outburst the other night Shimmer had been acting very possessive of Orion and treating him like he was nothing more than a porcelain doll. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Astra peg a knife at a dummy and miss by about three inches. She suddenly turned and waved at him, looking very cheery although very tired. He raised his hand and waved back at her, until Shimmer grabbed his arm and forced it down.

'What are you doing?' she hissed. Astra pulled a face in Shimmers direction but the blonde didn't notice. Orion pulled _a save me please _face and Astra started laughing, 'What was that?' Shimmer demanded.

Orion glowered at her for a second then thought of something, a positively brilliant idea, 'That was a…can we go to the camouflage station and try that out?" he quipped.

Shimmer pulled a face as she studied the paints, 'but…why would we need to learn how to camouflage?' she asked, 'We don't need to hide.'

'Never underestimate the usefulness of hiding,' Orion said

'But we'll get dirty!' Shimmer protested loudly, making Orion roll his eyes.

'So?' he took her arm, 'come on Shimmer.'

She refused to move and pointed towards the archery station again. Sighing inwardly Orion tried another tack.

'Please!' he made his face as innocent as possible and made his eyes go wide, as he had seen Astra do the other day, Shimmer tried to glare but after a few seconds of internal battle she gave in.

'Okay then, fine,' she smiled winningly as she patted his cheek, 'you look so cute when you do that I couldn't say no.'

_That was the point_ Orion thought, smiling internally.

Camouflage it turned out was harder than he had first thought. Orion had never used it, nor had he ever had the need to use it. It also didn't help that he had the art capability of a sloth. Shimmer wasn't doing too badly, managing to create a leafy design on her arm. She showed it to him, smiling flirtatiously.

'What do you think? I think it matches my eyes so perfectly. I might leave it on.'

'Mm-hm,' Orion grunted as he messed up his paint once again.

It simply looked like he had dipped his arm in a mud puddle, instead of the tree bark effect he had been aiming for. _I hope the arena's muddy. I could hide then_ he thought drily. He watched Shimmer carefully for a few moments more then he caught sight of Astra out of the corner of his eye. She was watching him curiously, toying with the rope in her hands. He smiled at her briefly then quickly looked back at the table. Shimmer was still blabbering on about her awesome leaves and how pretty they looked. Orion's eyes landed on a pot of bright red berry juice on the table just beside his right hand. With a quick glance at Shimmer to make sure she wasn't watching him he lashed out with his hand, sending the contents of the pot splattering all over Shimmer's arm, face and shirt. She shrieked and went stoke still, mouth agape. Struggling to keep back laughter Orion instantly started fussing.

'Oh Shimmer I am so sorry, I didn't see the pot there. Are you okay?' he asked, managing to sound very concerned for someone who was fighting back laughter and sarcasm.

'Am…I…okay? You just spilt berry juice all over me you nim-wit!' Shimmer shrieked.

'Yes well, I must it admit it wasn't one of my finest moves. You'll want to wash it off before it stains,' he said, still pretending to be oh so concerned. Most of the people in the training centre were in laughing fits and some of the trainers and game makers were keeping back smiles as Shimmer sniffed in disdain and strutted out, trying to maintain some dignity. Even Kali and Seir were snorting in laughter.

'Was that on purpose?' a quiet voice asked behind him and he turned so he could see Astra who was watching him with her wide, inquisitive green eyes.

'Maybe…' he smirked and she grinned.

'You look like you could do with a hand,' she said, gesturing towards his muddy arm.

He chuckled and nodded gratefully, remembering how well she had blended with the carpet yesterday, she reached out and took a brush from the table and dipped it into the paint, 'hold very still and watch carefully,' she instructed.

With precision and delicacy she began to paint over the muddy brown paint on his arm. She traced delicate lines and shadowing and slowly his arm began to resemble a branch more than a lump of mud.

'Wow,' was all he could say as she smiled and continued painting, 'How do you do that?'

'As hard as it may be to believe I have a large amount of patience. I learnt over the years. And when you're the youngest of a family of eight…seven it's sometimes best to be able to hide really well. I hide from Alec all the time…' she grinned as she dipped the paint back in the black paint.

Before she painted the next line though she stopped and yawned widely, and Orion saw just how tired she was. That suddenly reminded him of the thing he had in his pocket.

'Astra? I almost forgot. I have something for you…' he rummaged through his pocket until he produced a small grey tape and held it out to her.

Astra took it slowly and stared at it in disbelief, 'You actually…?'

'Yep.'

'Wow…thank you so much!' She grinned, then sobered, 'you didn't get into trouble did you?'

'Nope. He doesn't know,' Orion reassured her.

'Good. I hope it stays that way,' Astra nodded and Orion smiled slightly.

He looked back at his arm and was about to ask more about camouflage when a small gob of paint flicked him in the cheek. Astra giggled as she flicked another glop.

'Astra...' he cautioned, making her giggle even more.

The rational part of his brain was advising him against this but he had never been one to listen to the rational part of his brain. Astra squealed as a bit of paint hit her face. Orion chuckled quietly as she scowled at him.

'Oh you did not just do that,' she grinned, then flicked more paint at him.

'I think I most certainly did,' Orion shot back, flicking paint straight back at her. He quickly dipped his fingers into some of the more gungy yellow paint and grinned.

Astra was waving a paintbrush around, rather threateningly, 'Ah-hah I am armed,' She said, triumphantly, Orion laughed properly as she pointed the tip at him, 'be on your guard sir.'

'Oh Astra, there's something shiny of your face…' he pointed to her face, Astra stopped and reached up to find the "shiny thing" Orion stepped closer, 'it's right…there.'

Without warning he smeared his yellow coated fingers over her cheek causing her to squeal and laugh at the same time.

'Oh…that is so not fair…' she batted his fingers away then poked at him with the brush, spreading a long black line across his face, 'you big meanie poo.'

They were both laughing and trying to attack each other with more paint when Orion heard a shrill, crisp cough.

'Hem hem Orion, what do you think you're doing?'

He spun to face Shimmer, who was standing just behind him with her arms crossed across her chest, looking very pissed off. Her shirt was stained pink although it was still damp from her washing it and her face had a large pink stain on it also, that would require a few more baths to get it out. She was also wearing a massive glare and her big lips were pulled together in a tight, bloodless line, 'I leave you alone for one minute and you start playing with that- that- thing!' she jabbed a finger in Astra's direction. Astra went very quiet and looked at the ground.

'I'll just leave then…' she muttered until Orion took her arm.

'No…stay. Shimmer's just being a jerk. As usual,' he glared at Shimmer, daring her to respond, unfortunately she did.

'Jet warned you not to hang out with anyone but the careers'

'Jet'll only find out if someone tells him.'

'And you think I won't?'

'Oh I know you will.'

SPLAT. A blob of bright green paint splattered across the front of Shimmers shirt. Orion looked down at Astra who was looking remarkably pissed off for one so cheerful. Her hand was stained with green from the glob that she had picked up and lobbed at Shimmer. For her part Shimmer's mouth was opening and closing with a vague resemblance to a fish. Then, in a very Shimmer like fashion, she burst into tears and ran from the room once again.

'Duh, duh, da, I'm dead,' Orion muttered, watching her go, before looking back down at Astra who was now looking very sheepish, 'Good arm!'

'I'm sorry…I just got you in trouble didn't I?'

'Meh, Jet hates me. I don't think that that makes much difference.'

'What did she mean? That he had told you not to hang with anyone but the careers?'

'He's an antisocial guy. And he doesn't like the fact that I'm sharing my knowledge with others,' Orion shrugged, 'I really don't care what he thinks. I wasn't planning on obeying him anyway.'

'Oh,' Astra paused then suddenly blurted out, 'he sounds mean. Is he mean?'

'Yes Astra, he's very mean,' he said patiently.

'Well that's not nice. I don't like mean people. They're…they're just mean.'

By this stage Orion was laughing pretty hard at Astra's whinging, very indignant tone and her scrunched up, irritated face, 'Come on Astra, let's wash off.'

'Okay then,' she chirped happily, going from annoyed to bright and cheerful again in less than a second, he considered her being bipolar for a split second then shrugged it off, it was just Astra.

The training centre had a few sinks attached to one of the walls, very close to the camouflage area, obviously for tributes who were deciding to practice in the art of mess making. As Orion and Astra peeled of the paint a commotion broke out near the weapons section. They both turned just in time to see Lyra peg an axe at Kali's head. The district two girl ducked just in time and the axe imbedded itself in the wall. Seir was looking freaked as he looked from the axe, to Kali to Lyra who was glowering at both of them. She was saying something to them but as Astra and Orion were on the other side of the room they couldn't hear what she was saying. Orion suddenly realized that he was grinning widely as was Astra, mostly at the stunned and horrified expressions on the District two tributes faces.

'Well, this has certainly been an eventful day,' Astra quipped

'And it isn't even twelve o'clock yet,' Orion sighed.

...

Lyra stood in between the axe and spear section, deciding which one to go to when once again she felt the prick on the back of her neck and then whipped around. Kali and Seir who had been watching her all morning looked away almost instantaneously, and now they were getting on her last nerve, they were being so freaking obvious.

'Do you mind?' Lyra said loudly and turned to glare at them, 'Why are you watching me?'

'What are you talking about seven?' Kali said coldly, 'Why would we be watching _you _of all people.'

The scathing tone that entered her voice made Lyra get angrier, 'I'm not stupid, you two have been practically stalking me all day.'

The snap that entered her voice actually silenced everyone within earshot, but Kali and Seir didn't seem to realize how dangerous it was to get Lyra angry, 'You clearly think far to highly of yourself if you think we are watching you,' Seir said.

'Why would we watch you _seven_?' Kali commented, her emphasis on the number made her meaning all to obvious.

'Are you implying that because I'm from District Seven I'm not worthy of your attention?' Lyra hissed a bite entering her voice.

More people were turning to watch what was going on, and Seir seemed to realize it might not be a good idea to provoke her, so he shut up but Kali didn't seem to think that Lyra was much of a threat, 'Implying? I'm outright stating it. From what I've been informed of you're a common thief who's never had a scrap of affection in her life, you are far below us. Even if you weren't a thief though you'd still be below us because you are from seven and we are from two.'

'Oh really? Yes I'm a thief, but the thing is unlike you I'm not a pampered brat who has undoubtably being turned into a psychopathic maniac who is so brainwashed by what her District has raised her to be that she can't think of herself as I, but instead must go by we. And the funny thing is unlike you, you're district partner is smart enough to back off because the moment you started using the terms _us _and _we _he got the look of someone who wanted to say _leave me out of this.'_

Seir's expression instantly went pokerfaced so Kali couldn't see his expression but Lyra got an almost victorious smirk on her face, 'Oh even funnier you have got him so whipped that he can't have an expression on his face without him getting scared you'll kill him.'

Seir instantly was provoked by Lyra's slander, and instantaneously spat out, much to his own stupidity, 'In sync maybe, but at least we don't have to scrounge in the dust to get by, unlike you were not savages.'

'Wait till the games begin and I'll seem like a proper lady compared to you two.'

'Actually to me you'll seem more like a corpse,' Kali said, 'But it won't matter I guess, no one cares about you, no one will miss you when you are gone, I'm sure your screams will make for a good show.'

But Kali had gone one step to far because Lyra cracked and then next thing the tributes of District 2 knew, they both had to hit the deck. Because they had forgotten that Lyra was standing particularly close to the axe station, and they had forgotten that Lyra likes to throw things, because suddenly they both had to duck because an axe went flipping through the air and it slammed into the wall where Kali's head had been less then a second earlier. The entire room had gone dead quiet, most people were shocked, most were gaping at Lyra, the most hilarious were the expressions belonged to Ike who had actually fallen off a climbing frame and must have done something to his back because he started groaning quietly, Horace who'd been practicing with a bow almost shot his instructor because he let go of the bow string, Chance had completely hidden herself behind a trainer and Jinx who'd been in the process of lifting a weight dropped it on his own foot but didn't even react. Orion and Astra were grinning like two year olds, they were both covered in mud for reasons Lyra didn't know why, but she was determined to find out, and Greg was smirking with sadistic pleasure.

'Ok princess I have had enough of your crap! You think you are better then me because you were born somewhere else? Na ah. So maybe I'm not exactly popular where I'm from, but what do I care? My parents sit their getting high off random plants and don't even know that I exist, but the thing is, despite all of that, I am still a better person then you! I've done the best I could with what I was given, and you know what, for me thats enough. I've lived without regrets, I've done whatever the hell I wanted no matter what the consequences. You on the other hand when you die in the arena and mark my words I will make sure of that, you will die as piece in someone else's game, you aren't a knight you're a pawn, and you think that if you can make your way to the other side of the board the Queen will promote you, but you'll never get there because you can't fight till the death until you have tasted life. My suggestion, don't come near me again, you've had two warning shots, and on your third strike, you're out.'

Lyra turned on her heel and flounced away, before climbing up the climbing frame and onto the slats on the roof, clearly in a mood. The training centre was dead quiet which was eventually broken by Kali storming out dramatically out of the training centre, slamming the door behind her. Seir ran after her but then eventually the trainers started going back to their instructions and soon enough a vague babble of conversation broke out. It had been an eventful day, and it wasn't even lunch yet. But up in the observation room where a large amount of Capitol officials and gamemakers sat, there was a slight feeling of tension.

Seneca Crane stroked his beard before muttering to one of his assistants, 'We'll have to monitor her, she could spark a rebellion with that tongue.'

'Should I report this to President Snow sir?' he asked dutifully.

'No no, leave him out of this for now, but I'm going to have to keep a very close eye on this girl, she could be trouble.'

...

'Hi Chance,' Lyra said brightly.

The tiny little girl looked up at Lyra and hid her head almost instantaneously, 'Hi,' she whispered quietly.

'What are you doing sitting all the way over here by yourself?' Lyra asked like she was talking to a small child, well in Chance's case a smaller child.

But Chance seemed to adopt the tone well, she must have found it comforting, 'Eating.'

'Why don't you come sit with me and my friends ok?' Lyra asked, 'I'm sure they'll welcome you with open arms.'

'Are you sure they'll like me?' Chance asked quietly like a five year old on their first day of school.

'Oh honey, you're so adorable, they'll love you,' Lyra said firmly and then offered a hand to her and helped her to her feet.

Chance kept a firm grip on Lyra's hand as she walked her over to the table, she may be twelve but she was so shy it was adorable. Lyra led her over to the table to the large circle of chairs and pushed Ike almost casually out of his chair and offered it to Chance. Chance looked a little scared but Ike pulled up another chair and sat in it so the little girl tentatively took the seat. The group had grown from yesterday, along with Chance, Belle had bought her district partner Jinx over to sit with them, and Lyra had invited Ursula as well.

'Everyone this is Chance, say hi to her she's not sure if you'll like her, and its freaking adorable,' Lyra said in her usual straight to the point manner.

'Hi Chance,' the group chorused, all giving her a warm smile.

'Not like her? How could we not like her! She is so adorable!' Astra squealed before bounding over to the tiny girl and giving her a massive hug that was capable of suffocating her.

Lyra was busy counting off the people in the group and then realized someone was missing, 'Ok, where's Orion?' Lyra asked.

'Shimmer's been attached to him like a second skin all morning,' Astra sighed sitting back in her place next to Lyra, glancing at them empty seat next to her almost sadly, 'After the mud slinging incident I doubt she's letting him out of her sight.'

Everyone in the group started laughing as they remembered the look on Shimmer's face when Astra had flung the mix of mud, crushed berries and root vegetables at Shimmer. Astra and Orion had been perfectly covered in the stuff themselves but Shimmer had squealed and ran off in tears when two handfuls of the stuff had landed on her. Astra was mostly clean now but there was still random patches of it on her here and there. Including a rather substantial clump of it in her hair that she didn't appear to notice.

'What do we need a career sitting here for anyway?' Jinx said, not seeming to notice the almost depressed look on Astra's face.

'We don't need to, but we can't have Shimmer getting her way now can we?' Lyra said almost evilly.

Lyra got to her feet and walked off, and no one was entirely sure how but about half a minute later, Orion was being dragged over, not that he needed to be, by his ear, 'Lyra! Lyra, let go, I'm coming you don't have to drag me- Ow!'

Lyra practically threw Orion into his place next to Astra, and he shook his head at her, rolling his eyes at Lyra's antics, before sending a small smile at Astra, 'You still have mud in your hair.'

'Oh and you don't?' Astra fired back.

Orion definitely did, in fact the only place he'd really taken the stuff off him was on his face and hands, and even then there was still an occasional smear of the stuff, 'Yes, but I guess I'm so used to being around the idiot girls in my district I get used to them all being shallow eggheads who can't handle a bit of dirt.'

'Well its not that much mud-' Astra began.

Orion smirked and reached over, and almost unthinkingly, started pulling the sticks, mud and minuscule rocks out of Astra's hair, Astra was going bright red but Orion didn't seem to notice and after a while he'd gotten most of the stuff out, 'You call that not much?' he asked pointing to the rather large amount of dirt on the floor.

'Ah...'

They turned to hear a smattering of giggling, all of the girls in the group had their hands over their mouths laughing, well Lyra was the only one not hiding it. The guys in the group were smirking, except for Jinx who didn't look approving at all of how comfortable Astra and Orion were around each other, simply because Orion was a career.

'What's the joke?'

'Oh nothing sweetie, nothing at all,' Lyra said through her giggling.

'Yeah right,' Orion muttered but didn't make a comment, though noticing that the group had three new people to it, he glanced at Lyra for an explanation.

'Oh right, Orion, this is Chance, who has just entered the competition to rival Iris and Belle for most adorable. Jinx who is capable of flipping someone twice his side, bravo Jinx. And Ursula who is so smart even I can get lost talking to her.'

Chance gave Orion a tiny smile before hiding her face, and Ursula waved cheerily at him, Jinx pointedly ignored him though, Ursula noticing this seemed to deem Jinx's behavior unacceptable decided to start talking to Orion, 'So I saw you in combat with an instructor with the katana earlier, its an fascinating choice of a speciality weapon, why did you select them?'

Orion gaped at her then said, 'You are the first person who knows what katana are without me having to tell them.'

'Told you, she's a genius,' Lyra said levelly.

Orion ignored Lyra and then started answering Ursula's question, 'Well swords have always been almost tradition in my family to use them and I was forced to pick swords, but to annoy my dad I decided to stay away from the traditional types of swords and go for the most obscure type I could find.'

Lyra muttered something to Belle and the two started giggling instantly, Orion glanced at them almost suspiciously but Ursula was back to talking to him, 'Well you are adept with them, how long have you been tutored in their art?'

'In District One they train their people to do something game worthy from the age of about five, its part of our school curriculum, we start proper weapons when we're six or seven so about ten or eleven years,' Orion explained.

Lyra started laughing loudly again and instantly he whipped around, 'What?'

'I'm just thinking, I'm this good now without any formal training, I could kill you all if I'd been trained since I was five,' Lyra said giggling like a maniac, everyone in the group stared at her and she instantly reprimanded, 'Oh come on, like I would! This is a hypothetical situation!'

Everyone looked away from her, they knew enough of Lyra to know she wouldn't kill any of them, but the thing is they knew she could. And that was never comforting.

...

Ike was at the top of the climbing frame, as he was from District Seven, it instantly meant he could climb better than a monkey. He was about to move up to the cross hatched roof, when he heard a small coo below him. From this height he could make out Astra standing about four meters below him, looking straight up at him.

'Wow! Can you teach me how to do that?' she babbled excitedly, clearly over estimating the distance and positively screaming to him.

'Sure you can manage it?'

'Of course I can!'

Ike thought for a long moment to himself. She was District Ten, chances were she'd never been higher than a few feet up a tree. But then again, if the arena was a forest, then she wouldn't have much of a chance if she couldn't climb, so he jumped down to meet her.

'Wow! How'd you do that jump?'

'I'm not letting you try that one.'

'Aww...' Astra said disappointedly.

'Have you done any climbing before?' Ike asked patiently.

'I have five older brothers, I have to know how to climb, it's the only way to escape,' Astra said cheerfully.

'I could say the same thing about my three little sisters,' Ike said smirking.

'But little sisters are cool! I'd love a little sister!'

'That's because you haven't had one.'

'...True... Can I climb now?' she said perking straight back up.

She jumped onto the frame before he could even get an answer out of his mouth and started climbing. He sighed impatiently, he should have guessed she would do that. So he climbed round to the other side and started going up beside her, easily catching up, he expected her to fall within the first meter or so, but she didn't and kept climbing. It wasn't until she got up the entire ladder that she called out to him.

'I'm stuck!'

'What?'

'I'm stuck!' she repeated looking disappointed.

'How are you stuck? You're all the way at the top,' Ike said.

'I can't get onto this next bit, I can get on the top but I can't get under it like I saw you doing before.'

'How long exactly were you watching me?'

'A long time Ike, a long time,' Astra said.

Ike rolled his eyes to himself and then pointed, 'Okay, now what I'm going to get you to do is reach out and put your hand round the first rung, and just adjust your grip so you're thumbs a little more hooked round.'

Astra made the adjustment, and then listened for the next instruction, 'Okay, now what you're going to have to do is change your footing so you can swing down, and quickly change your hand round to grip the bar as well. And then you have to double check your gripping, and then you're going to have to sort of swing down.'

Astra nodded, and she began making the adjustments, but just before she began to swing Ike noticed that her thumb wasn't quite in the right place, but before he could even tell her, she'd swung. And then with a sharp squeal she suddenly fell through the air, screaming towards the ground.

...

Orion was very tuned out as Shimmer droned on about herself, dragging him towards the archery station for the millionth time. He was considering for the billionth time today, that his wolf family was clearly having trouble finding him, because otherwise they would have come for him by now, when out of seemingly nowhere a tall golden headed girl crossed his vision.

'Hi Orion.'

'Hey Lyra,' he said even though Shimmer looked furious.

'What do you want?' she snapped.

But Lyra just smiled, 'Hold your arms out for me will you?' she asked.

'Why?' Orion asked.

'Just do it,' Lyra said cheerfully, but with a slight sense of urgency.

'...Okay...' he said and extended his arms.

'And a half a step to your left,' she instructed.

'...Okay...' he said and moved.

Almost instantaneously, there was a squeal and a scream and a bundle labelled Astra landed in his arms. He glanced at Astra, then at Lyra, then up. He was extremely confused as Astra hugged him around the neck babbling out a thanks, well until Ike leapt down from the roof and landed beside him.

'Sorry about that, Astra's still got a few little problems with her grip,' Ike explained.

'Don't we all?' he said glancing at Lyra before asking her, 'Who's the gravity challenged moron now?'

'Still you.'

'I should have seen that coming.'

'Then you shouldn't have given me such an opening,' Lyra said, then noticing that Orion was still holding Astra she said almost casually, 'You do realize you can put her down now.'

'Yes! Put her down now!' Shimmer snapped loudly.

Instantly, he readjusted his arms so Astra was sitting more comfortably, and Lyra being Lyra, started laughing, Shimmer seemed to be twitching with anger before she said, 'Orion, weren't we supposed to be going somewhere?' her voice ringing with suppressed rage.

'Were we?' Orion asked having completely forgotten already.

'Yes we were!' she snapped loudly and pointed to the archery station.

'Again? Really?' he asked sounding far to exasperated.

Shimmer glared at him and stormed off, and then Orion sighed, 'Well I'm going to get hell later.'

'Yeah probably,' Lyra said unhelpfully, 'Although how much damage could one blonde bimbo do?'

'It's not the blonde bimbo I'm worried about,' Orion muttered to himself.

Astra looked at him in concern but didn't ask, that's when Ike asked Astra, 'Do you want to try the crossing again?'

'Ooh! Yay!' she remarked and leapt out of Orion's arms running towards the climbing frame.

No more than five minutes later Lyra told Orion to put his arms out again.

**Well fourteen pages later here we are, and what an eventful day they had.**

_Oh yes, but it's not over yet. Heh heh, Shimmer got muddy and Kali got an axe flung at her_

**The career girls can't catch a break now can they? And Astra's falling from incredible heights.**

_Yep and being caught by her knight in 'shining' armor._

**And well, Jet isn't going to be happy.**

_No, no he is not._

**And the more you review the more chapters we post, so we'll see you lot around.**

**~Selina**

_Roses are red_

_Violets are blue_

_If you review_

_then we will love you_

_Ally :)_


	12. The discovery of Dumbwaiters

**Well…we're back?...he, he….we meant to update sooner, we really did!**

_I take the blame! I'm the one who didn't work on my part of the chapter! Heh, Heh?_

**Throw the rotten tomatoes at her not me! Not me! *Ducks***

_Ahhh, attack of the flying tomatoes! But on a more serious note, we hope you enjoy our latest chapter._

**Well, let's go see what's happening with Orion, Astra and Lyra.**

Lyra sat in her room, once again she had the large notepad out and was scribbling in it, at the speed of light, not even seeming to think at all before she wrote. Occasionally at the beginning of a new entry she'd pause for about two seconds to process everything she knew about the person, chewing on the end of the pen, frowning to herself, but then would go back to writing. She finished adding things to Cady's entry, and began writing more on the guys, the entries were a lot longer then yesterdays, due to the fact that not only had Lyra spent a majority of the day doing boring, straight forward tasks so she could observe them, they were starting to settle into what they were best at. And frankly the only one who still managed to surprise her was Orion, she continued reading over her old entrances and adding to them, occasionally crossing out a previous sentence and correcting her thinking.

_Orion- He's almost to good, frankly he probably is the strongest fighter in the competition, the only one who could rival him is Seir, but Orion would get the upper hand because he's so singleminded. He's deadly with those katana, in fact he's a freaking ninja, he can't be stopped really, you'd have to get him distracted or take him out from a distance to get rid of him, but his reflexes are so good he'd probably be able to move out of the way of a speeding arrow. Personality wise is what makes him interesting, he has ethics unlike most of the careers, he would be a useful ally but he's a little to stuck with the other careers, you don't join their alliance and you become their first target, and he's not stupid enough to do that._

_Seir- He's deadly and a sociopath, that much is obvious, his skill with that damned axe is almost creepy, he can throw it and fight with it like a battle axe as well. He might be the biggest challenge of them all because he's so deadly in sync with Kali, they don't think separately, they're in each others minds, whispering in each others ears. Honestly he's a little whipped, but he's also the leader of the career pack at the same time, taking him down could break the entire alliance, not to mention that it would break Kali, tributes from District 2 haven't gone more then a week without each other in the games, and that was a record, if they last more then three days then that is a big deal. Although I have to find out why he and Kali were watching me, it doesn't make any freaking sense for them to be so interested._

_Sparky- Sparky is such a sweet heart, but the way he is so protective of Iris, oh my god can he get any cuter? I mean really, he will go to the end of the world defending that poor little girl and the thing is he's barely a year older then her. He might not be entirely useless though, I mean he did seem to know what he was doing with that knife in training today, if he had some more time then he might get really good at it, but he doesn't have that time unfortunately, he'll probably go down defending Iris, poor thing._

_Botis- How freaking tall can he be? I mean I looked it up, he's six foot eight at seventeen, but really, he's massive, and he's built like a bear. He is extremely strong and exceptionally fast on his feet for someone that tall, but his downfall will probably be his lack of actual skill. He uses nothing but brute strength but that leaves nothing to protect him from a knife to the head, I really think that he won't win, at least I hope he doesn't, it would be a mockery to the games itself, and I have little respect for those._

_Rupert- Eh pretty useless, he won't get far, he's just ordinary, he's not particularly good or bad at things just average. I really don't have anything to write about him, he's so normal that its boring. I doubt he'll last the bloodbath, and even if he does he won't get far, average intelligence, average looks, average skills, average personality. He hasn't got a drop of special in him and its depressing._

_Jinx- He seems alright, he's a nice guy but he's borderline racist on how he differs the districts, if Belle hadn't talked him into it he wouldn't have sat with us. But he could be dangerous I mean, he honestly was stronger then he looks, he was flipping the trainers with surprising ease. But from what the psyche test tells me, his emotions are likely to get the best of him, and from what I observed the test is right, there is no disconnect with his emotions, there on his sleeve and he can't pull them in, it could be his down fall._

_Ike- I really hate to say this but I don't think he'll get out, not because of any lack of skill, he's got his traps and he's actually gotten pretty good with machete/sword doohickey he was using, but he can't get through because of who he is. He can't see a mutt without stopping to give it some food, if someone stacks it he's always the first to help them to their feet. He's to nice, he wouldn't be able to justify killing anyone, he wouldn't be able to do it, or injuring someone for that matter. I keep saying that I don't want to kill but the thing is unlike him I'm not completely in control of my emotions, I've got my heart on my sleeve and it drives me to do things I wouldn't consciously do, I couldn't kill someone that I liked, that much I know, and I couldn't kill for killings sake but in defense of myself, in defense of another- Lyra this is Ike's entry not yours, this is not a diary, you aren't girly enough for a diary._

_Greg- I like him, its certainly unusual for me to like people but his sadisticness is funny, and I can't help but like it. He's brutal and brooding, and I think he could easily justify killing someone, in fact he might even get a rush off it, but he could be a useful ally, he's precise and strong, he might not be as good as the careers but he could be useful, I'll talk to him more tomorrow, I might even try to form an alliance, he's too useful not to consider it, and I enjoy talking to him._

_Farrow- He's fast, he was on a treadmill in training and he was running at twenty three kilometers and hour and he was looking perfectly comfortable with it, he was running like that for at least twenty minutes. But I think he's spreading himself to thin, he isn't willing to leave his comfort zone, he sticks to running and spears, he didn't even touch the any of the survival skills, he's either good with them already or very cocky, or an idiot either one._

_Horace- He's pretty cute, and yes there are a lot of cute ones this year, but he's not exactly innocent, and he scares easily, hell I think he's a little scared of me, if it wasn't for Astra I think he'd have had nothing to do with me in the first place. He was alright with the bow in training, but apart from that he's pretty useless, unfortunately I don't think he'll last long, but he's got a quick mind, he's resourceful, who knows, he might be able to pull something off._

_Basil- He keeps to himself, I asked Ursula to bring him over if he wanted to join us at lunch but he wouldn't have it and sat stubbornly by himself. Although he's alright with knife fighting, he's got some talent there, but frankly the careers are way better then him, although he seems like he has some experience in knife fighting, not that I've been able to find out why but I can only guess. You wouldn't be able to get within ten meters of him, but the thing is that less than half of the careers need to get within that distance._

_Cole- Once again I have no clue about him, he's basically skeletal, he's gotten a little less sickly since he got here but he looks like he's used to going hungry. He sticks to his sister like clockwork, and both of them seem to have the same vibe of defeat, they don't expect to last and that lack of hope has marked them as prime targets for the careers, they're not going to last long, I know it._

That was when her door flew open and she slammed the book under the pillow as fast as she could before the entering Xandra could see it, "What is it Xandra?" she demanded a snap entering her voice.

"What's this Ike was saying about you throwing an axe at someone today?'" she hissed the identical snap in her tone.

"Ike told you?" Lyra demanded.

"No, he told Esperanza, I just happened to be listening, who'd you throw it at and why?"

"Kali, the girl from two, she and her district partner Seir were watching me, and I snapped at them, but they started insulting me and well... I cracked," Lyra explained slightly awkwardly.

"They were watching you?" Xandra asked.

"Yeah, all morning, and it had been a few hours, and it was pissing me off, even after the axe incident I could still feel them watching me."

Xandra suddenly blanched and then said saying it like it was a death omen she said, "They were watching you because you exhibited skill, they're thinking of asking you to join the career pack."

"Wait come again?" Lyra asked like she wasn't sure that she'd heard her right.

"And chances are this outburst will only convince them that much more that you are to useful to be left out of the career pack, if you don't get asked tomorrow then I really will be surprised."

"I've tried to kill Kali twice, that isn't exactly encouraging."

"Quite contrary actually, they're logic is that the most dangerous you are the better it will be for them, you can be used as an ally to take care of talented tributes that aren't quite skilled enough for the career pack. And then they'll kill you when they're done with using you as a killing machine."

"But Seir is the head of the careers and Kali is his partner surely-"

"They'll ask you Lyra, now you have to figure out where you stand," Xandra said.

"I can't join the careers, ethically I don't think I'm capable of killing, or at least not in the career fashion."

"You've grown," Xandra reflected.

"I've grown?" Lyra asked.

"These games are changing you before you've even entered the arena. You haven't accepted your near to inevitable demise, you almost seemed ready to give in before but not so much anymore. And what you said just then, you completely out ruled killing before, but now you seem to be open to the fact."

"In self-defence, defending another, that I realized I can half justify, but not in cold blood, when someone's defenceless... that I couldn't do," Lyra said quietly.

"I guess that's what I've got to work with, I doubt I could ask for much more," Xandra sighed, "If you're going to tell the careers no, you better know what you're doing, and you'll probably need someone else, you'll need allies, at least one or two, there is Ike, he is handy, but who else can you ask?"

"Well this is the first place in the world where I've had friends, but there is a difference between who would accept and who's useful I guess. Astra is useful, I could ask her-"

"Astra?"

"Chicken dancer from ten."

"Her? Really?"

"She may act like an idiot but she's got skills, especially when it comes to hiding, she is a good climber, Ike was giving her a bit of tutoring today and she took to it like a fish to water. She knows the basics of a sword and she'd pretty decent with a spear."

"Fine, consider it. Who else?"

"Greg could be useful, the guy from eight who's built like a bear and is very sadistic... And Orion as well, he's definitely useful."

Lyra's hesitance when she said Orion's name lead Xandra to be confused, "Who?"

"He's from one, but he hates the rest of the careers, and you know, if Astra's there he'll be there in a heartbeat."

"You won't be able to trust him Lyra-" Xandra began.

"I do though, it's weird but I do, in a way we're the same, and that's why I trust him, I don't think he could kill in cold blood either, I'm a judgmental person, I tend to go straight for the worse but really, he defies everything that most careers are expected to have, he's got the skill but unlike the rest of them he hasn't got the brutality," Lyra sighed, "I feel like I can trust him."

"It's on your head Lyra," Xandra warned.

"I know! I know Xandra! My head! My life! My dignity! My soul! My streak of being always right which I have held since I was nine! It all resides on every little choice I make in the next few weeks! And if I'm wrong even once, it'll be the end, it's all over! All because there is a psychopathic dictator in charge of our country, and he wants to keep us in line! Wants us to be his puppets! Want us to be soulless drones with no sense of self, of individuality or independence! Destroying innocence! Destroying families! Tearing apart everything that you care about until there is nothing there! Nothing at all for you to have or to care about! Nothing to make your mere existence bearable! Nothing! Nothing at all! Nothing!-"

"Lyra!" Xandra yelled over her trying to calm down.

Lyra stared at the older women's face for a long moment before choking out, "I need some air," and bolting out of the room.

…

Astra lay on her bed in her room, eyes closed, chest rising and falling slowly. She wasn't asleep, she couldn't sleep. It was just so quiet in her room. There was still an hour until dinner but Astra was so tired that she didn't have the energy to go out and talk to Joel like she knew she should. She should tell him about her climbing lessons and the other interesting stuff that had happened that day but she couldn't be bothered to get up and go and find him. Her training clothes lay in a crumpled heap in the corner of the room, she had changed into a loose pale blue top and the same white trousers she had been wearing yesterday.

She smiled slightly as she pictured the paint fight that she had had earlier with Orion and Shimmer's face when she had thrown the mud at her. That would be engrained in her memory for the rest of her life that face. Suddenly the paint fight made her remember something. Her eyes snapped open and she shot off the bed and hurried over to her training clothes. She rummaged through them until she found the tape in the trouser pocket. She grinned broadly as she weighed it in her hand. Now all she needed was something to play it on. She opened the door and approached one of the Avox's that was standing to attention out in the hall. She didn't deny that their intense silence creeped her out as well as the vacant and stern expressions on their faces.

"Um excuse me…would I be able to get something to play this on?" she asked the young male Avox who nodded sharply and hurried off. She felt sorry for him and for a brief moment wondered what he had done to betray the Capitol. She knew that she wouldn't be able to survive if they cut out her tongue and made her mute. Oh boy that would be torture.

The young man returned and handed her a small box which she assumed was to play the tape. She thanked him before backing into her room once more and shutting the door.

It took her a few minutes to figure out how to play the tape but in the end she worked it out. She hit play and grinned when the sound of snoring filled the room. Much better. She placed the tape beside her bed and snuggled into the covers once more. A ten minute nap wouldn't hurt anyone. Her eyes closed and she drifted off into a deep sleep, something she had been deprived of for the past few days.

The next thing she knew someone was shaking her shoulder trying to wake her up.

"Astra, hello, Astra?" She blearily opened her eyes to see Horace standing over her.

"What?" she grumbled, not happy with being woken up.

"Joel told me to come and get you for dinner." Horace explained.

"What time is it?" She asked, sitting up and stretching.

"Eight o'clock. We finished about an hour ago but Joel wanted to let you sleep for a while. But now he wants you to eat something. Come on," Horace said.

"Oh" Astra yawned as she slipped out of bed.

Instead of eating at the table as she normally would have she simply loaded a plate with some of the left-over food and made her way into the lounge room. Joel was there with Druella and they were both watching the television. Well Druella was. Joel was more interested in scribbling down in a notepad.

"Ah, I see sleeping beauty has decided to grace us with her presence" He said as she sat down beside him.

"What? I was sleepy!" Astra protested before she quickly shovelled in a mouthful of food.

"Who was snoring?"

"Uh…Jet." Astra blinked as Joel suddenly looked up.

"As in the District one mentor?"

"Yeah…"

"I just hope he doesn't find out about it. Otherwise your boyfriend will be in a ton of trouble."

Astra nearly choked on her food and had to spit part of it out onto her plate once again, making Druella scoff and look disgusted. Joel almost looked amused at Druella's reaction, but then sobered.

"Perhaps your boyfriend may be able to help you…"

"Not my boyfriend!"

"Whatever…just warning you, you'll have to watch out for the girl!"

"What do you mean?"

"From what I've heard she doesn't like you…"

"What do you mean?"

"From what I've heard you threw paint at her…"

"Yea…where did you hear that?"

"Horace"

Astra turned to Horace, "you traitor!"

Horace shrugged and looked away quickly and Joel continued talking, "Besides, even if you hadn't she would be aiming for you anyway."

"Why?"

"Jet seems to make a point of setting his tributes on mine every year. That's why they rarely make it out of the blood bath alive, the same as seven."

"Why them?"

"He doesn't like Xandra…"

"Does he like anyone?"

"No…"

"That's mean!"

All she got in response was a deep sigh as Joel massaged his temples, obviously suffering from yet another migraine. She couldn't help but notice that he suffered from them a lot. Well from what she had seen.

"What's that?" she asked suddenly. Joel looked up.

"Dumbwaiter. I don't know why they have it. It's not like anyone uses it. They've had it since I was here for my games"

"Oh…" Astra stood and crossed to the hatch on the wall. She slid it open and looked down the deep, yawning, black shaft. There was a cable running all the way down it. She noticed the row of buttons on the wall just beside the entrance. There were the numbers one to twelve plus a 'G' and a 'B'. She pressed the number ten and stood back. With the clunking of old gears, from a piece of machinery that hadn't been used for quite some time a medium sized box appeared.

Filled with curiosity and amusement, Astra picked up a pen and paper from a nearby counter and began writing on it, "What exactly are you doing Astra?" Joel asked.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Astra chirped.

Joel didn't look convinced but he went back to scribbling in his notepad, Astra smirked and scrawled down on the piece of paper she'd torn off:

_To whoever finds this note, and I do hope that it's the person I think it will be, I mean who else would bother to look in the dumbwaiter, send back the response to this riddle: What can travel around the world and still be left in one corner?_

_X A_

She quickly folded the piece of paper into a delicate crane and sent it off in the dumbwaiter. She didn't know if this was going to work, but she did have her reasons. If today was any indicator of tomorrow, she doubted she'd have a chance to thank Orion for the tape. So anything was worth a shot, she didn't want to go into the games without at least thanking him, she probably wouldn't see him on the interview day either, Jet would be keeping him on a tight, choking leash. But after about a minute or so, she nearly jumped out of her skin at the tiny ping of sound from the dumbwaiter. She unfolded the piece of paper and read the two words on the page.

_A stamp_

_-O_

She couldn't help but smirk before tearing off another piece of paper and writing her message in response:

_Ooh, you're good at this. If it has a quart capacity, how many coins can you fit in an empty piggy bank?_

_-A_

Once again her response came back in under a minute; he really was good at this:

_One, after that it won't be empty anymore. Is there a point to this Astra?_

_-O_

She grinned and tearing off yet another piece she scrawled her next note:

_Just checking it was you… And testing you slightly, I love riddles. So anyway, I finally got some sleep, that snoring tape worked like a charm Thank you, thank you, thank you! Has Mr. Meanie found out yet?_

_-A_

…

_Well that's good. I'm glad it works. And no, Jet has no idea about the tape. Or anything else which is good. For some reason Shimmer hasn't told him anything. Not that I'm complaining. _

_-O_

After checking to see that no one was watching Orion quickly slipped the note into the dumbwaiter and sent it up to the District Ten floor. Since coming up after training Shimmer had been uncharacteristically quiet, giving a simple, one word report of the day before disappearing into her room to shower. Orion had been a little bit more communicative and had told Jet that he had hung out with the careers, which wasn't too far from the truth. He emitted the paint fight and lunch and catching Astra after she fell, though. Jet hadn't asked anything else and Orion had disappeared to his room.

He had been exploring the lounge room looking for hiding places when he had heard a slight pinging noise from the corner. He had then discovered a dumbwaiter, with an origami note inside, with a riddle in scripted. He had of course sent up a reply, to which she had sent another riddle, before finally getting onto a serious subject. He was pretending to be examining a picture on the wall when he heard a slight drone and when he opened the dumbwaiter again there was another piece of paper, neatly folded.

_Good, that's a relief. Joel was telling me what he's like and he sounds really, really, really mean! I don't like him! Why isn't Shimmer telling him anything? I hope she doesn't though. It would be awkward if he found out about the paint.  
>You weren't exaggerating when you said that he sounds like a wild pig when he sleeps. It's so funny! :D. If I wasn't sleeping I would be laughing.<em>

_-A_

He laughed quietly as he read the note. He was so engaged with reading it he didn't notice Shimmer until he had walked right into her.

"What are you reading?" She asked. Orion frowned at her, mostly at her attire. She was dressed in a backless top which scooped low at the front and very, very tight trousers.

"Go away Shimmer" he said, moving around her and continuing down the hall. Until elegant fingers snatched the note from his hands, "Hey. Give it back" he tried to grab it back but Shimmer danced back, eyes scanning over the note. For a second she looked very pissed but after a second she smirked.

"Oh Jet. Come here a minute" she called sweetly down the hall. A few seconds later Jet appeared from down the corridor.

"What is it Shimmer?" he asked slightly impatiently. Ignoring Orion's protests she strutted up to him and handed him the note. Orion felt a very sudden urge to run as Jet took the piece of paper and read it. His frown turned into a glare then a scowl as he looked up at Orion, "Explain. NOW"

No words came to his mouth so Orion stood there, tapping his chin and trying to say something. Shimmer smirked then turned to Jet.

"I'll explain. You told Orion to only work with the careers. He worked with us for about half an hour and then he went off with his little friends again. Him and that brat from ten were working in the camouflage area for ages _and they flicked paint at me! _They got into a paint fight as well. And he sat with them at lunch and he seemed to be having a really good time. And, after lunch he worked with me for a little bit and then he got into a conversation with the girl from seven and he _caught _the girl from ten when she fell off the climbing frame." Shimmer continued going until she had covered almost everything that he had done that day. When she had finished she crossed her arms and nodded sharply. Jet went from looking mad to looking just plain furious.

"I told you to work with the careers today. Okay so you disobeyed me, big deal. But explain this…" he held up the slightly crumpled note from Astra.

"She couldn't sleep…so I decided to help her." He said, keeping his eyes defiantly on Jet's face.

"And how does she know that I snore?"

Orion didn't answer and looked down at the floor. He was in so much trouble. He was wondering where Aurora was and how big his lung capacity was when he saw Jet move from the corner of his eye. Something slammed into his jaw and he spun and slammed into the wall before crumpling to the floor. He gasped quietly as he spat blood onto the carpet before raising his eyes just in time for Jet to grab his shirt collar and pin him to the wall.

"You have got to be, the most ignorant, stupid tribute I have ever had!" Jet hissed, "Do you even care what I say or…"

"Jet, what are you doing?" He spun suddenly to see Aurora standing in the door way, arms crossed over her chest. Orion used the distraction to push Jet off him and scramble to his feet, practically running into the elevator. He slammed the button for the roof and the elevator shot up.

…

"You call that a tree? That is not a tree, it's a shrub, in fact it's not even that, it's a disgrace to all shrubs. It defies shrubbery," Lyra muttered staring at a round bush thingy, "How dare it be round, why is it spherical? This is supposed to be a garden, not the wacky shack of all conservatories."

She heard a door slam behind her, and from the footsteps she guessed it was Orion, and he was pissed, she turned to a new "tree" and started insulting it as well, "And you, do you realize how stupid you look? I mean really, you're shaped as a, what is that, an elephant?"

"It's a giraffe actually, what the heck are you doing?"

Lyra turned around to tell him to shut up but then her mouth fell wide open, "Like you can talk, what the hell happened to you?"

"What?"

Lyra stared at him in complete disbelief, "You're bleeding."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not."

"Yes you-"

"Lyra I can do this all day."

"You are bleeding!" Lyra snapped loudly.

"But the thing is, I'm not."

"Oh really then? What's that red liquid coming out of that cut on your lip? Tomato puree? Apple skin? Clown wig? Cherry juice?"

Orion stared at her and then touched his lip, blood came off when his fingers touched it, and he frowned, "Oh, I'm bleeding."

Lyra was twitching with suppressed anger, "Really? How'd you know?"

"Because this is blood."

Lyra facepalmed, "So what happened to Mr. I'm not bleeding, I'm definitely not bleeding"?"

"He didn't realize he was bleeding."

"What happened Orion?" Lyra asked desperately keeping her temper in check.

"I walked into a wall."

"Oh really?" Lyra said getting to her feet and strolling over to him, "Then what's with the bruise on your cheek?" she said with a poke.

"It also happened when I ran into the wall."

Lyra then gave him a smile that was more like a leer before said, "Oh really? Then how exactly did you get the cuts on the back of your neck?"

"I- How the heck did you notice those?"

"I'm extremely observant, now how the hell did it happen?"

"Ah..."

Lyra gave him a look of complete and utter contempt and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and digging her overlong fingernails into the barely healed over cuts, "How'd it happen?"

"Let go of me-"

"How'd it happen?"

"Your nails are really long-"

"How'd it happen?"

"Stop it Lyra, that hurts-"

"How'd it happen?"

"Okay! Okay! Let go of me and I'll tell you!"

"No, how'd it happen?"

"Fine! Jet doesn't like me!"

Lyra let go of him and jerked him onto a nearby bench, and examined her finger tips which had a few drops of blood on them, "Wow how stubborn are you? Who's Jet?"

"My mentor," he said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well isn't he an ass?"

"Oh yeah," he said with a sigh.

"What did you do?"

"Apparently be far too nice to you," he said irritably.

"I don't like him."

"Neither do I."

"I didn't think so," Lyra said then noticing the cut on his arm, pulled his arm towards her and started looking at it, "What the heck did he do here?"

"Slammed me into a picture frame, the cuts on my neck happened at the same time," he sighed, but pulled his arm out of her grip.

"So how'd you piss him off today?"

"Now that's a long story-"he began.

"And I'm guessing you aren't planning on going back down there any time soon."

"...True. It started when he found out I sent that snoring tape to Astra."

"You sent a snoring tape to Astra? What for? You snore?"

"No, Jet does like a wild hog; it was mixed in with Shimmer's sleep gibberish,"

"...That could be useful, anyway why did you give it to Astra?"

"She couldn't sleep, her room was too quiet apparently, and when we were sending notes through the dumbwaiter-"

"You were sending notes through the dumbwaiter?" Lyra demanded.

"Well, yeah,' Orion said like it was the most normal thing in the world, 'and then Shimmer stole one of the notes, and then she called Jet in, and then she started listing everything I had done today that she hadn't liked. Which was a lot. And then Jet punched me."

"That psychopathic, loathsome, vile, contemptible, malicious, belligerent-"

"Am I interrupting something?"

Lyra took one look at Jet and clearly not realizing who he was snapped, "yes, yes you are. Now where was I? Oh yeah. Two fisted, callous, empty headed, bird brained, good for nothing scuzzball you call a mentor-"

That's when Lyra noticed that all colour had drained from Orion's face and was trying to melt back into the seat like he wasn't there, that's when she paused and said, "That's him right there, isn't it?"

All she got was the sound of awkward laughter, and she smiled then turned to Jet and said, "Great, now I can say it to your face, I hate saying things behind people's backs!"

Jet quirked an eyebrow at her, "Excuse me?"

Lyra smiled at him then slapped him as brutally as she possibly could and it actually knocked him sideways, as he stumbled clutching at his face, "You pig headed, spiteful, moronic, rotten, low down, pugnacious, confrontational, creepy, rogue, ratfink, bastard!"

Orion stared at Lyra and at the still unnerved Jet and then uttered a single word, "Wow."

Jet stared at her in utter disgust and snapped, "Orion, come with me."

"I don't think it's safe to move," Orion said honestly.

"Orion, now."

"I'd rather not," he said making it obvious he was a little scared of Lyra.

Jet pushed past Lyra and grabbed Orion's arm, and started dragging him back towards the elevator doors when Lyra snapped, "That's it!" and grabbing Jet's arm she pretty much flipped him and he hit the force-fielded side of the roof.

There was a loud crackle and Jet collapsed to the ground, well and truly knocked out, Lyra poked him with her foot in the side and frowned, "I just got you in a lot of trouble didn't I?"

"Yes, now how do you expect me to explain this to Aurora?"

"Who?"

"Shimmer's mentor, there's an abundance of mentors in District One so we get one each," he said, "How I got stuck with him, I still don't know. I like Aurora better, she's totally got Jet whipped, but she's still not going to be pleased."

"Don't tell her then."

"If I don't tell her, he will, and it will be blown way out of proportion, he will make it sound like I was standing there forcing you to do it, not because he likes you or anything, just because he doesn't like me."

Lyra frowned, and then commented, "I'll explain then."

"You aren't getting near her."

"Why not?"

"You just aren't, I won't be able to get into the room without her seeing me, she'll be at the elevator waiting for me, recon I can climb down the side of the building?" he asked her sarcastically.

Lyra on the other hand seemed to seriously consider it, "...Sorry ninja, the force field would stop you. Although..."

"Although what?"

"You could ride down from seven with me, and then climb out the window and down that way," she suggested, "I know for a fact that they actually haven't thought of putting a force field round there."

Orion smirked to himself and then said, "Well that's one way to make sure she doesn't see me, if you're sure you won't mind lending me your window."

"Not a problem," Lyra said with a laugh.

They rode down to the seventh floor, Lyra humming quietly to herself along to the elevator music, and then she pulled open the door to the room, and walked in, Orion stuck behind her. He couldn't help but notice that Ike, who'd been lounging on the couch fiddling with a small wooden figure and a pocket knife between his fingers, looked straight up at him in surprise. The women who he realized was Lyra's mentor instantly looked suspicious, her hand clasping around a lamp on the table like it was a weapon. The two stylists glanced up at Orion, and then kept talking to each other like there was nothing wrong with him being there, only her escort seemed to have something to say.

"Lyra, what is he doing here?"

"Relax Gertrude, he's just borrowing our window," Lyra said like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Actually the dumbwaiter might be easier," Orion commented trying to act like this wasn't awkward in the slightest.

Lyra then opened the dumbwaiter shaft and pulled the tray down to their floor, "In you go."

Orion smirked and climbed into the shaft but instantly as he balanced on the tray, got a bad feeling, he'd forgotten he was claustrophobic, "Ah Lyra maybe I'll just use the window-"

But Lyra ignored him completely and slammed the door closed and hit the button, sending him down to his floor without a second thought, she jumped onto the couch and then turned to an Avox, "Can I get a glass of apple juice? Damn I love that stuff!"

_Well, wasn't that exciting! Grr, Jet is so mean!_

**I know and Lyra is on the edge of sanity.**

_Ah, but that is what makes her awesome!_

**Yeah, it's just sad to see her breaking. Although it's also sad to see Orion getting hurt. It's a nice comparison to see Astra so bubbly.**

_Why is everyone so mean?_

**Just wait till we get to the bloodbath honey, you ain't seen nothing yet.**

_Oh, I'm looking forward to writing the bloodbath! Muhaha!_

…**Oh dear, she's excited again! Well, we've got to start work on our next chapter, so fare thee well readers, we'll see you next time. Review more and we'll update faster.**

**~Selina**

_Oh reviewer, oh reviewer, where for art though reviewer?_

_: )Ally _


	13. In their true style

**Ah… Hi, we're back, I know it's been two weeks but well… it's a really long chapter, so… be happy! Okay, and to clarify possible misunderstandings among our reviewers, this isn't just one random person talking to themselves, this is two separate people writing the same story and arguing because we can.**

_Hello dearies. Yeah and just to continue on with what Selina said, this is not a submit your own tribute. All characters within this story are property of our imaginations. Currently some of our characters are being held down with chains because we don't trust them not to run away. _

**Ok time to get to the story, will talk to you guys after.**

Chapter 13: In their true style

Orion sighed in frustration as the fabric he was using for hammock making slipped between his fingers again. They had really only just been released from Atala's speech about this being the final day of training and to make sure they covered all the stations. Shimmer had been remarkably quiet all day, and hadn't insisted that he stay by her side. She had gone off to one of the other stations; Orion didn't care where, just so long as she wasn't bugging him. He had gone off to do some hammock making, one of the only survival stations he hadn't covered. None of the other careers had gone near the survival stations, simply sticking to the weapons.

He had gotten a few looks when he had come down to training that morning. He had to assume it was due to the scab that had formed on his lower lip and the pale bruise on his jaw. They were probably all assuming that he had mixed it up with another tribute, except for Lyra of course, who knew the whole story.

"Shoot," he hissed, as the hammock he was making fell apart once more.

"Do you need help?"

He jumped about a foot in the air at the quiet voice behind him. He turned, half expecting, half hoping that it was Astra. Instead he found himself looking at the little girl from District Six. Belle looked at him inquisitively, through big brown eyes. Her hair was tied up in a little plait, and her training outfit made her look smaller than she actually was.

"Um…" he started, a little confused, she sighed, a little impatiently, then took the fabric from his hands.

"Watch me carefully!" she instructed, her tone of voice oddly authorative for one so small, "you need to hold it like this…not like this!" she mimicked the way that he had been holding it before.

"Okay…" he nodded slowly. He tried to take the fabric back from her, but she batted his hands away at once.

"No, watch but no touching!" she said sharply. Orion pulled a surprised face at the idea of being told off by a twelve year old.

"Alright…"

"Good!" she held up the cloth, "next you wrap a second piece like this around it. You won't be able to make it out of one piece; it won't be strong enough to support your weight."

Orion watched her intently, although out of the corner of his eye he could see Jinx standing off in the edible plants section, glowering at him. He knew that Jinx didn't like him, and he knew that he didn't like the idea of Orion hanging around with the little girl from his District. Jinx was quite fond of Belle, he made that obvious, and he was very protective of her. It was understandable; Belle was adorable to say the least.

"Are you watching me?" Belle asked, tapping his arm.

"Oh sorry Belle, I just got a little distracted."

"Hm…" she frowned at him, "well as I was saying…"

For the next half an hour Belle showed Orion how to make a hammock which would support his weight. She was remarkably patient for one her age, instructing him and demonstrating repeatedly as he messed up. In the end, he had managed to construct a half way decent hammock. Well it looked decent if that was anything to go by.

"Try sitting on it." Belle instructed when he had finished.

"But…"

"You don't make a hammock to just look at it. Now come on…if you've done it properly it shouldn't matter"

Orion hesitantly sat down on the hammock, only to have it break instantly. He grunted as he landed heavily on the floor. Belle giggled as she bent down and pulled a piece of fabric off his face.

"You're funny…" she smiled as he huffed impatiently, "I think you might need more practice"

"Maybe later" Orion said, smiling slightly himself, as he picked himself up off the floor, "is there anything you need help with?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you helped me. So do you need any help?"

"Um…" Belle paused as she thought and looked around the training room. She then pointed at the knife throwing station, "Can you help me with that?"

"Sure" Orion said easily, although he sucked at throwing things himself. He had a terrible aim and he would admit that freely. That was why he stuck to katana and close range weapons, he could use those. Bow and arrows? Nope. Knives? Definitely no. But if Belle wanted help with that then he would attempt to help her.

"Okay, so when I throw it, it kind of just lands on the floor…" Belle said sheepishly, as if embarrassed to be admitting a fault to a career.

"Don't worry. Let's just see what you're doing wrong" Orion said. Belle picked up a knife from the stand and held it in her little fist, "That's why it's falling straight to the floor…I may not be an expert in knife throwing, but I know that you don't hold it like that"

"Oh…sorry!" Belle exclaimed.

"Don't apologise." Orion instantly objected, "Don't worry, we'll fix it easily and soon you'll be throwing these like a pro!"

Carefully and gently Orion slowly helped Belle to correct the way that she threw the knife. The little girl took the instructions seriously and her small face was pinched in a look of pure concentration. The instructor, who by now was used to Orion not obeying any of the rules didn't try to interfere, only looking in occasionally to give them small tips.

"Okay, throw it now." Orion instructed, still crouched beside Belle, although his legs were starting to cramp from being in the same position for too long. Belle nodded, before throwing the knife with all her strength. It bounced off the leg of the dummy and clattered to the floor. Belle pulled a face and instantly opened her mouth to say sorry but Orion stopped her at once, "Hey no need to apologise, you just need more practice. Come on, let's try again!"

"Okay…" Belle hesitated, but tottered off to collect her knife. She returned to beside Orion and held the knife the same way she had been taught. Orion noticed she was a very quick learner. He only needed to correct her on the tiniest thing, but otherwise she remembered perfectly. She threw it again, and this time the tip stuck into the thigh of the dummy.

"Well done!" Orion praised and she all but glowed.

"Oh, that is so impressive!" there was a sudden sarcastic sneer from behind them. Belle's face dropped and Orion instantly turned to see Kali standing behind them, hands on her hips, knives clutched in-between her fingers. Her face was twisted into a cruel sneer as she studied them, "I'm sure she would be able to win the games with knife skills like that! The rest of us don't stand a chance!"

Belle looked crestfallen and Orion placed a hand on her skinny shoulder, before once again turning to face Kali.

"Don't you have something better to do? You know, like playing with your dolls?" He said calmly and smoothly. Kali's face twisted into an expression of rage, but as they were being watched by an instructor, simply turned and stormed off. Orion looked back at Belle, whose eyes were brimming with tears, "Hey…don't worry about her. She's just one of those people who thinks that she's better than everyone else."

Belle nodded and wiped her eyes, "Alright. Can I try again?"

"Of course! Off you go!" Orion encouraged her as she once again slipped up to the dummy and gathered her knife up. She stood beside him and went to throw it, but he stopped her.

"Here, aim up, instead of down." He said, moving her arm slightly. Belle nodded and threw the knife. This time she got a good solid stick in the dummies stomach. Orion applauded her and her face split into a massive grin.

"I did it! Orion I did it! I did it!" She jumped and clapped her hands. Orion laughed, a real laugh, although at the back of his head a small voice was reminding him that she wouldn't make it. But he ignored that, instead focusing his energy on what was happening now.

"I can see. Well done!" Orion patted her back, before pulling her in for a one armed hug. She was still grinning uncontrollably, "See, what did I tell you? A little bit of practice and you're throwing knives around like a pro!"

…

Orion sighed sleepily as he leaned against a wall. Once Jet had found out he was back in the apartment, about two hours after he'd come back, he started slamming against Orion's bedroom door, screaming at him for several hours, mostly demanding that he come out and explain himself, which had meant that Orion had been deprived of sleep for most of the night.

'Orion,' there was suddenly a sharp voice and he opened his eyes as someone snapped their fingers impatiently in front of his eyes.

'What is it Lyra?' he asked, stifling a yawn, and blinking tiredly. Oh sweet Jesus, he was so tired.

'Are you okay? I'm pretty sure you're freaking Astra out, the only reason she hasn't come is because Shimmer started threatening her-'

'Wait what did Shimmer do to her?' Orion demanded at once, instantly raising his head to look at her.

'Relax, it's like you're her guardian angel, the way you look out for her, or alternatively her prison guard at the insane asylum-' Lyra started to say but was interrupted once again.

'I think after last night it's fair to say that we'd be hypocrites to call her crazy.'

'Speak for yourself Orion; Jet didn't hurt you again did he?' Suddenly she sobered and eyed him with concern.

'Na, just screamed at me through the doors till about one in the morning, he was still asleep when I woke up this morning so he couldn't get to me, besides I think Aurora might have locked him in his room.' Orion shrugged carelessly. It was true. When he had gotten up, after only about six hours sleep, if that, Jet's door was closed and he could have sworn that there had been a bolt across the door. This had been a major relief, as he hadn't wanted to face his mentor after the events of the night before.

Lyra laughed at that, 'I like this Aurora girl. She's got style of a unique breed. Oh by the way, did you manage to get a look at how badly I'd injured him?'

'Aurora didn't ask anything about it oddly enough, I thought she would have, but she told me this morning that Jet had been passed out on the roof for at least twenty minutes by the time she found him, and well, from that slap you gave him, apparently he's going a little black and blue in the perfect shape of your hand.'

Lyra was probably laughing way too much at that statement, 'Oh that son of a bitch deserved that, but it's shame I didn't break his jaw. It's always a shame when I don't break something.'

'When you don't break something?' he interrupted, slightly horrified.

'Well... I have a habit of bitch slapping this guy back home, Toby, he's the mayor's son and he and I haven't stopped being at each other's throats for years. I must have slapped him a couple of dozen times, and I've broken his jaw twice and his nose six times, if his family didn't have so much money, it would be nothing more than a crumpled mess on his face. Look I'm not entirely proud of it, but he really should stop riling me up, he's kind of asking for it, I mean after I nearly killed him you'd think he'd stop-'

'You nearly killed him?' Orion asked.

'Well that depends who you ask…did you come over here for hand to hand or to sleep?' she abruptly changed the subject.

'Originally hand to hand, but the wall looked comfy,' Orion replied, before yawning widely.

'Would you like to have a practice bout?' she said amusedly when he had done.

Instantly sensing the challenge, he straightened and asked, 'Sure you can handle it?'

'You can't even handle a strangling grip from some old guy and yet you think you can handle me? Nice try Orion, you keep telling yourself that.'

They both started smirking, and moved towards the large set up of mats laid down for duelling, and even though they were supposed to be fighting only with instructors, neither particularly cared. And then, facing each other, for a second they just looked at each other, waiting for the strike to come, and then Lyra moved. She swung her leg up and would have kicked him in the head, but he ducked and taking advantage of her being off balance, he rammed her slightly, which should have sent her sprawling on the ground but she dropped into a ninja roll and was back on her feet within about half a second.

'Miss Franklin, Mr. Ehra, you're not allowed to spar with each other,' an instructor tried to tell them at once but he was flat out ignored by both of them.

Orion swung a punch at her, but she ducked and then hooked a foot around his ankle, elbowing him in the ribs, and kicking him in the back of his knee which knocked him to the ground, but he did one of those weird push up ninja tricks and was back on his feet quickly. He swept at her legs swiftly, before he was even back on his feet properly. It looked like it was working, but even as her legs were knocked into the air; she landed on her hands, and sprung off them, back on her feet before he could stop her. Once again they circled each other, until Lyra tried to strike again. Orion blocked her hit with his forearm, and spun out of the way quickly. Now he was behind her, he hooked one foot around her ankle, then knocked her in the back. She was sent sprawling to the ground, but tried to kick out with her legs. He danced back neatly to avoid getting hit.

And without another moment's hesitation, she leapt up and tried to land a blow on the top of the neck, but he caught her in the stomach as she got higher and then flipped her over his shoulder.

'Oof,' she grunted as she hit the mats again.

'Miss Franklin, Mr. Ehra, stop fighting you aren't allowed to fight each other!' came the other instructors who had gathered, although none of them were stupid enough to get in the middle of the fight.

Once again, neither teen responded, only concentrating on the fight. Lyra, who'd landed on the ground, just behind Orion, took advantage of her position to roll into his legs knocking him to the ground, narrowly missing landing on top of her. She got to her feet and went to pin him to the ground with her foot, but he grabbed her ankle and she fell to the ground once more. As soon as she was down he grabbed her arms and pinned her to the ground.

'Are you done now?' he asked her a smirk setting across his face.

She just smiled at him, but he'd forgotten to secure her legs. Helicoptering her legs, she knocked him off her so hard that he actually came off the mat and knocked over an instructor. He apologized hastily and helped the instructor to his feet, but Lyra didn't even seem to care what he was doing, and leapt on his back, slamming punches into his head. He threw her off him, but she grabbed a pole meant for chin ups, swinging on it for a second, flipping around the bar once, and flying back towards him, feet first, and would have kicked him in the head if he hadn't practically done the limbo under her and starting to get a vague smile on his face, they continued their fight, off the training mats, not particularly caring if they were disturbing other tributes, and not caring if they were being yelled at by the instructors to stop, they were moving too fast to be caught or stopped.

After about twenty minutes of being screamed at by instructors, and getting cheered on or weird looks from the other tributes, Orion and Lyra were on the other side of the room from where they had started. They were both sweating and out of breath, but both had completely loosened up, and were grinning, unable to help it. They were swinging at each other, flinging insults and ninjaing off equipment, but not intending to hurt each other in the slightest, they were just extremely amused by their own version of sparring, until eventually they just looked at each other, and burst out laughing, and Lyra collapsed on the ground breathing in and out heavily, sighing. she may have been in good shape, but she wasn't as used to fighting like Orion was, he'd been trained for it all his life, she was talented but she didn't have the same skill level and experience that he did. Orion sat down beside her, despite the fact that they were currently in the maze of dummies set up for sword practice, and he gave her half smile. He was also breathing heavily and quickly wiped away a bead of sweat from his forehead.

'Thanks.'

'Don't worry 'bout it, anytime you need a sparring partner, well before one of us is dead, then come to me, that was surprisingly fun,' she said cheerfully, punching him lightly on the shoulder.

'Not just that. I always hated the fact that the only thing I was any good at was fighting. It irritated me to no end. You just made something I didn't really like…for want of a better word…fun.' he said giving her the same vague smile.

'No problem Orion, one thing's for sure, if we're in the finals, it's going to be a real shame to kill you,' she said with a smirk.

'I like to think it would be the other way around.' Orion also smirked, but it was so obvious in his eyes, that if it came down to the two of them, he wasn't prepared to hurt her.

...

Lyra was serving herself some of the rich, hearty soups that were on offer for them after the first few hours of training. She grabbed a last hunk of bread and a bowl of croutons, and turned to go over to her getting larger by the minute group, when she saw Seir rise from his table with the other careers, well except Orion who was currently bickering over something pointless with Astra, and walk towards her.

'Hi,' he said sounding cheerful, and that instantly put her on her guard.

'What?' she snapped.

His eyebrows furrowed, 'Why so hostile?'

'You're a sociopath Seir, what do you want?' Lyra snapped.

If Xandra's words had any truth to them, then she knew what he wanted but she didn't realize that Seir could act so nice, which annoyed her, 'Do I have to want something?' he asked sounding almost friendly, key word almost.

'Yes, yes you do, now what do you want?' Lyra snapped already losing her patience, eying the large collection of cutlery that could be turned into weapons near her.

'Well you see Lyra, my friends and I are interested in you, you aren't your average tribute you see, you have skills, you can survive. We're interested in inducting you into our midst, we are your best chance of survival you see,' Seir said enticingly, 'so what do you say, will you join our alliance?'

Lyra remembered what Xandra had said about handling this moment carefully, and then noting this and then doing the exact opposite, she gave him a winning smile, and then dumped her bowl of hot French onion soup on top of him. He swore loudly as the scorching hot substance made contact with his skin, and everyone in the room whipped around to see what was going on.

'You little bitch!' he swore loudly.

The table of the other careers, Kali, Lilith, Botis and Shimmer were choking like it had been them that had been souped. Greg, sitting by himself in the corner was laughing his head off, the twins from twelve glanced up, sighed impatiently and went back to their food, Nakita and Rupert just stared, mouths wide open. Farrow dropped his bowl of food. Basil who'd been walking towards Lyra's group, walked straight into a wall, but it was the reactions spread among Lyra's group that truly topped it. Belle, Iris and Chance were giggling behind their hands, trying not to make it to obvious they were laughing, Astra, Charix, Jinx, Horace and Sparky were grinning like mad, Orion, Ike and Ursula were all shaking their heads, still grinning but in that way that clearly read, "You've done it now."

'Thanks, but no thanks,' Lyra said politely, then ladled some more soup into her bowl, and skipped off to her group were she was welcomed back with cheers like she was a hero.

They were clapping and laughing and a few of them called jokingly, 'Encore!'

Lyra curtsied then took her seat in the group, and looked at the three who had been shaking their heads at her and said, 'Well?'

Ike shook his head, 'You've got a target on your back now Lyra.'

'Well I was always going to have one,' Lyra shrugged.

'Perhaps you might have handled that a little rashly, surely you could have thought of a way to handle it more... eloquently?' Ursula suggested.

'But what's the fun in that?' Lyra said innocently, but when Orion failed to say anything she looked at him expectantly, 'Well?'

'...I could tell you off, but if Jet wouldn't kill me I would have probably done something similar.'

'You don't have to be part of the careers alliance Orion,' Lyra said testily.

'Easy for you to say but unfortunately for me it's not that simple,' Orion sighed.

'What do you mean?' Astra asked confusedly.

'For example the bloodbath, I have to have my katana, if not I probably won't last, but that means I have to go for the packs, by the time I get to them chances are Lilith, Kali or Shimmer have got their weapons and they can strike me down before I can run especially seeing as I'll be right beside them, or Seir will be near me with his axe, or Botis would have gone for me by this point and he doesn't have a weapon. I say no to the careers and I have a target painted on my back, but the thing is in the line up around the cornucopia I will be surrounded by them, I really don't have much of a choice. If I cross them I'll be dead in a minute unless I pick the perfect moment to break off, and that'll be risky. For now, I'm one of them, whether I like it or not.'

…

'O-r-i-o-n E-h-r-a'

The metallic, female voice echoed through the lunch room. Everyone fell silent and looked around. Shimmer had gone through a while ago, and now it was time for Orion to go.

"Good luck!" Astra called at once when he stood up. He flashed her a half smile, ignoring the nerves fluttering in his stomach. As the boy from District One he was expected to do well, he was expected to get a high score, mostly to threaten and intimidate the other tributes. If he got a high score, then obviously the sponsors would take more notice of him. He would have a greater chance. But at the same time, if he got a low score, no one would notice. He could have been hiding his skills on purpose, ready to strike back once he got in the arena.

The doors to the training centre gym opened and closed behind him as he stepped into the now empty hall. The only noise came from the low murmuring of the Gamemaker's. They would pay the utmost attention to him, as he was the male tribute from District One. They would be expecting a good show, so they were watching him intently. Seneca Crane was leaning forward in his chair and watching him, chin propped in his hand. After District Four and that would only be if they were feeling in a generous mood, the Gamemaker's would start to show minimal, to no interest in the other tributes. He vaguely wondered how Lyra would take that.

As he stepped into the centre of the gym he kept his eyes on the podium. He felt a sudden and un-ignorable desire to shock them. To do something to show them, that he wasn't a brainless and mindless minion, that he wouldn't bend to their will. He wanted to show them that he wasn't like the other people of his District. He didn't want to impress anyone, that wasn't why he was here.

District One didn't rebel, they wouldn't. They had no reason to what so ever. They lived in comfort, and even the poorest had enough to eat and had a roof over their head. But Orion was an oddity in that respect. He saw the Hunger Games for what they were, a cruel way to make the Districts scared to speak up and take action. A game, a game invented for the soul purpose to show off their power. But Orion sure as hell wasn't prepared to play this game.

His fingers closed around the handles of his katana and he removed them from the rack. He weighed them in his hands for a few seconds, keeping his eyes locked on the Gamemaker's who were watching him intently. He had two options really, one; play along, play the game. Two; refuse to play. He went with two. Life in the arena was going to be hell anyway and there was no way that the actions of a few multi-coloured bozos was going to change that. He walked over to where the dummies were, and he could hear as the quiet murmurings of the Gamemakers got a bit louder, as they leaned forward expectantly.

Still watching them from his peripheral vision Orion went to stand in the normal position he would take up for a close combat situation…and then let the katana slip from his grasp. They clattered to the ground with dull, echoing clangs.

"Oops" he whispered, a tiny smirk pulling at the corner of his lips. The Gamemakers had gone silent, dead silent. Instead of bending down to pick up his blades, Orion turned, bobbed his head in a tiny bow, and walked straight out of the room, as casually as someone would walk out of the house to go and pick up the post. Just before the elevator doors shut, he heard the room behind him erupt into whispers, and a tiny smile traced onto his face.

…

Seneca Crane frowned at the retreating back of the boy, as he disappeared into the lift. The Gamemakers around him at once started talking amongst themselves, most of them expressing horror at the whole thing. A tribute from District One showing any form of rebellion was completely unheard of, and it shocked them all.

"What now sir?" one of the Gamemakers asked.

"Nothing…there's nothing we can do at the moment. But I want eyes on him at all times. And I want to be notified about anything he does that is out of the ordinary! A rebel from District One is the worst type of rebel we could get!"

…

'Ly-ra-na Fran-klin,' came the computerized voice announcing that it was Lyra's turn to enter the training centre, and do what she does best, show off.

'Wish me luck,' she said cheerfully to the other tributes.

The ones that were her friends grinned at her and Horace actually muttered, 'Like you need luck.'

'Perk up pipsqueak,' she said with a smirk.

She opened the door and entered, on the platform above the training room, there was a large group of Capitol officials on gamemakers, and at the head of the group was Seneca Crane who was watching her intently. She knew they'd be watching her for specific reasons, she'd made a mockery of some of the career tributes, they'd seen her do it, they wanted to know if she was as dangerous as they'd seen or for some of them heard. Xandra and her had a talk the night before after sending Orion down the dumb waiter, and she had warned her that they'd be keeping an eye on her because she'd not only shown she had skills, but proven she could snap and become dangerous, and from what Ike had told her about what she'd said, she might be having rebellious thoughts.

'Lyrana Franklin, District Seven,' she said to make sure they were paying attention.

Despite the fact they'd been watching her closely, this not one of them had realized that she'd hidden a case of throwing knives up on the top of the mesh climbing frame on the ceiling. Some of them turned away boredly as they saw her start climbing the ladder up to the roof, they clearly thought she'd just be climbing, like it was all she could do. Lyra on the other hand had a trick up her sleeve, then hanging upside down from the intertwined mesh on the roof, she judged her target, a dummy four meters down and ten meters across from her, and then flung her first knife.

There was a loud thunk and the group who hadn't been watching her jumped. Lyra pulled her next knife out and aiming at one of the targets, at a small x that was barely visible from where she hung, she tossed the knife. The Capitol officials all were staring in shock as the knife hit the x without a millimeter off, it had hit the exact middle of where she'd been aiming it. She swung back up and grabbed a few more knives, but then instead of hanging by her knees she dropped down till she was only hanging by one hand and then she flung the three knives she was holding, one by one they thunked into nearby dummies, all of them hitting critical spots. One between the eyes, one in the side of the head right through the temple, and the final knife hitting the third dummy in the throat. And then grabbing the axe she'd happened to hide up there as well, she threw it as hard as she could and it decapitated a dummy nearby and some of the officials were on their feet, like they weren't sure that they'd seen it.

Lyra leapt down from the roof, landing with an ease only someone from seven could manage, and curtsied dramatically, well the best she could in pants, but then suddenly gaining an idea, she began, in true Lyra style, exiting via back flipping and handspringing over the machines, and then walked on her hands the rest of the way out of the room. She waited till Ike came out to join her, which took a little while because he'd been making a bear trap, but seeing the smirk on her face he sighed to himself, shaking his head at her.

'Lyra, Lyra, Lyra, what have you been up to?'

'What makes you think I've been up to anything?' she said innocently.

'I am talking to Lyrana Franklin; you're always up to something.'

'Well when you put it that way, there is one thing for sure; simply throwing knives around won't do much to impress the judges after what I just did.'

'I thought you did just throw knives, it is what Xandra told you to do.'

'Why do something so ordinary when you can give them a real show?'

'Will Xandra be happy with you?'

'I don't know, I did go against what she said, but if I don't get at least a nine then I'm going to kill someone.'

'What did you do Lyra?'

'That's for me to know and for you to find out.'

...

Seneca Crane was slightly unnerved as he watched the girl cartwheel out of the room, backflipping at every moment possible. She was talented, with no formal training she had managed to develop into possibly one of the most dangerous competitors he had seen. But he was more convinced then ever that he had to get rid of her, no matter how skilled she might be, and how easily she would make for an interesting competition, he just didn't know if he could let her get anywhere in the Games, especially knowing what she had said the previous night. She had delivered a challenge to the Capitol, she'd said that they were responsible for making lives miserable, she'd insisted that these Games were designed to install fear in the populous and they were despicable. He couldn't let someone with such rebellious thoughts last long. But he decided to bide his time, if he arranged for an accident for her in the games, he'd be killing off some of the greatest competition, and the Capitol adored it when someone other then members of the career districts won, it mixed it up from time to time. He'd have to keep a closer eye on her then he originally anticipated, but if that little spark of rebellion in her he'd seen turned out to be more then a flicker, then he would have her taken out, no questions asked, he'd have to have it arranged.

…

Astra watched and waited as the other tributes emptied one by one. Orion, Sparky and Iris, Nakita, Belle and Jinx, Lyra, who went in with her head held high, Ike, Charix and Greg, Chance. Now it was just her, Horace, Ursula, Basil and Cady and Cole. Ursula was sitting, staring into the corner, a thoughtful expression on her face, Cady and Cole were talking amongst themselves, Basil was studying the table and Horace was just looking awkward.

Astra was bored by this point. As people had gone, one by one, there had been less and less people for her to talk too. Farrow was taking ages, even though in reality he had only gone in about a minute ago.

With no one to talk to, Astra suddenly noticed a pile of paper, hidden in the corner of the room.

"Ooh" she cooed. Horace looked up at her, shook his head, and looked away. Astra padded over to the paper and picked up a sheet. She then looked over at an Avox who instantly stood to attention.

"Hi, would it be possible to get some coloured pens or something?" she asked. The Avox nodded briskly and hurried away. They returned only a matter of minutes later with a small tub. Astra thanked the Avox and hurried back to her seat. Quickly she began to write on the paper, in big, bold, multi-coloured letters. She then drew a few little love hearts, a smiley face and a big happy sun.

"Astra? What are you doing now?" Horace sounded exasperated as he looked over her shoulder. He read the letters on the page, "I Love Seneca Crane's Beard? Astra, really?"

"Yup…you make it sound like this is abnormal." Astra quipped.

"Most normal people don't go around making signs about other people's beards!"

"Oh Horace, Horace, Horace…" Astra shook her head sadly, "When will you learn that I am anything but normal?"

Horace shook his head and gave up. Astra went back to drawing love hearts. Until they heard the annoying female recording.

'A-s-t-r-a V-e-e'

"That's me!" Astra squealed excitedly and leapt to her feet, "Bye, Bye everyone. I'll see you later! Good luck!"

She skipped up to the door and waited, practically bouncing in excitement. Why she was excited, she had no idea, she just was. The door opened and she bounded in, waving her little sign above her head.

"Hi, Hi, Hi!" she chirped. The Gamemakers all looked over at her, the feast forgotten, as they studied the little girl, waving her sign and grinning broadly. Seneca Crane cracked a smile as he studied the sign and a few of the Gamemakers laughed. Satisfied that they had seen it, Astra bounded over to the camouflage table.

The Gamemakers looked away as she started to swirl the paint around, going back to their feast. But Astra was watching them, observing them the whole time as she painted her body and clothes. By the time she had finished, not one of the Gamemakers was watching her, far to absorbed with the task of eating and drinking. But that was exactly what she wanted. Silently she slipped forward and clambered up onto the podium. Then she pressed her back to the wall and closed her eyes and waited.

She didn't have to wait long. Before even two minutes had passed, she heard as one of the Gamemakers started shouting.

"Hey, she's gone. Where'd she go?"

There was an instant sense of uproar as the Gamemakers raced to the side of the podium to look for their lost tribute.

Wait for it. Wait for it Astra thought, struggling not to laugh. She waited for another few seconds, then suddenly and very loudly she jumped forward and yelled, "BOO!"

There was a series of startled squeals and screams from the shocked Gamemakers. Astra giggled as she watched their various reactions. She had painted herself perfectly, so she had matched the exact colours of the podiums walls. After observing the colours and the lights on the red paint for the past few days Astra had managed to replicate the colour on her own body, perfectly camouflaging herself.

"Okay Miss. Vee, th-thank you…" Seneca Crane stuttered, still recovering from his shock, "You may go!"

"Thank you Mr. Crane!" Astra chirped. She hugged him quickly, forgetting that she was covered in red paint, before leaping off the podium and skipping to the door.

"Sunshine, Lollypops and rainbows…" she sang quietly as she hopped into the elevator. She sang the whole way up to her floor.

…

Wiping the paint off his new suit with a napkin Seneca Crane watched as the girl skipped into the elevator, singing cheerily. She was adorable, far too innocent to be real, to exist in this world. And it was this exact innocence that made the head Gamemaker worried. A person with a big mouth could be silenced; someone who committed rebellious actions could be contained and controlled. But a person who rebelled simply by existing? What could you do about that? In her own way, maybe by being so happy, maybe by being so sweet, somehow, Astra Vee was rebelling, in her own unique way. And that little girl somehow managed to leave Seneca Crane, with a very big problem.

…

'So did you both do what I told you to?' Xandra asked as Lyra and Ike entered the apartment.

'Well I did…She did something,' Ike answered.

'Something?' Esperanza asked the amusement in his voice all too obvious.

'Well…' Lyra began.

'Please tell me you didn't throw the scoring,' Xandra moaned.

'Oh the contrary,' Lyra muttered to herself, but then she said, 'I'm going to have a shower before they announce the scores.'

After her shower, in which she had covered herself in the fragrance of the white lily to get rid of the stench of sweat from her workout earlier that day and the French Onion soup on her hands, she dried off and massaged her temples feeling much better. She walked out to the living room, dressed now in a loose white shirt and black leggings, trying to pull her messy curls into a bun, but failing miserably. Esperanza and Ike's stylist Helena were both talking to each other and she caught something about "interview" and "princess" which she was instantly suspicious of, but when they saw her coming out, Esperanza smirked at her and beckoned her over to them, before starting to do her hair himself, pulling the tangled mess of curls into two plats.

Ike came out and settled on the couch beside Helena and joining her in a wrapped conversation about the interviews tomorrow, and what she was going to dress him in, promising it wouldn't be a robe this time. Xandra was lounging on the other side of the couch, fiddling with a fire lighter. That's when Gertrude rushed into the room, her hair bright green, her skin powder white and dressed in a bright blue dress lined with some sort of yellow fur.

'The results are being announced!' she chirped.

Lyra inwardly flinched at the Capitol accent but then she grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, 'let's see the results from this year's training days, Orion Ehra from District One-'

For a long moment Caesar stared at the result like it didn't make any sense to him and then said, 'With a score of two.'

Everyone in the room looked shocked but Lyra burst out laughing, 'How could a career get a two? They usually get tens!' Xandra snapped.

'Oh Orion! That is brilliant! I can't believe he actually did that! Jet is going to kill him.'

Ike rolled his eyes at Lyra's behavior but turned back to the TV, 'Shimmer Brillo, with a score of ten. From District Two we have Seir Vicioso, with a score of ten and Kali Muerto with a score of nine.

'From District Three we have Sparky Scintilla with a score of six and Iris Fiore with a score of three. From District Four we have Botis Iniziale with a score of eight and Lilith Terzo with a score of nine,' Caesar read, 'From District Five we have Rupert Zenzero with a score of five and Nakita Maxwell with an impressive score of ten. From District Six we have Jinx Trucco with a score of seven and Belle Torre with a score of three.'

'Ok you two let's see what you've managed to get,' Xandra said.

'Oh this better be good,' Lyra muttered under her breath.

'In District Seven, both tributes managed to pull impressive score, Isaac Thornton with a score of seven, and Lyrana Franklin with a score of ten.'

They were already reading out the results from District Eight, but Xandra who'd been in control of the remote switched the television off and whipped around, 'A ten?' she demanded.

'Shame I should have gotten an eleven,' Lyra said boredly despite the smile that had risen on her face.

'What did you do?' Ike asked her a grin lighting his own face.

'Well I climbed up to the roof and threw my knives from there, and then I threw an axe from up there, and then I ninjad out,' Lyra said giggling.

'How did I not think of that?' Xandra asked herself.

'A seven and a ten? This is brilliant my dears!' Gertrude squealed excitedly nearly falling over in her platform boots.

'You did it Lyra!' Esperanza said hugging her proudly, almost fatherly, not that Lyra was sure of what that would feel like.

'Wait a second,' Lyra said getting a grin on her face, 'I topped Kali… suck it bitch!'

Lyra started dancing around the room in victory, and they all laughed at her, it was unusual for them to see Lyra this happy. In fact they'd doubted that anyone had ever seen Lyra that happy at all. Lyra was yet to realize that although she'd seen this as a death sentence before, this was a place, this was the moment that would let her be truly happy, be truly at peace, be truly in control of her own destiny. Well almost in control, she still wouldn't be happy when Esperanza mentioned to her that night at dinner that she'd have to wear a dress tomorrow.

…

The current atmosphere on the District Ten floor was very relaxed. Except for the fact that the stylists and Druella were there, watching as Astra, Joel and Horace played a game of cards. Horace was winning, which wasn't very surprising and obviously Astra was coming last.

They had come from training half an hour ago and were all sitting in the living room waiting for the announcement of the training scores. Horace was nervous, he knew that he had done badly, he just didn't know how badly. If Astra was nervous she wasn't letting anything on, more content with singing quietly and trying to peek over Joel's shoulder at his cards.

"Gee Pipsqueak, relax why don't you? You're shaking the table!" Joel reprimanded after a few minutes, moving his cards away from Astra, who was peering over his shoulder again, "You're not going to make your score any better by fretting over it!"

"But what if I did really badly?" Horace asked, "I mean, I missed the target every time!"

"So? They've been watching you all week! Not just today. And no one cares if you do badly. As I say every single year to my tributes, no one pays attention to bad scores because you could be hiding your skills! So a bad score won't hinder your chances of getting sponsored." Joel said, as he drew another card.

"I'll probably get a two." Horace sighed.

"But you might not!" Astra chirped happily, "Maybe they weren't watched you and then they'll just think later 'oh he was pretty good, let's give him a twelve!'" She changed her voice in the last part, to a deeper man's voice. Horace and Joel both smirked at her and she grinned back.

The game continued for a few more minutes, until Druella snapped her fingers sharply, "come on you lot. It's about to start!"

Sure enough, right on cue the screen turned from black to a picture of the capitol emblem and there was a brief burst of the national anthem. When that had finished, the smiling, crimson haired Caesar Flickerman appeared. He opened the program in his usual way before starting to read from the sheet in front of him. First the girls, then the boys.

Of course the tributes from two and four got brilliant scores, and the rest were pretty mediocre. There were a few good ones from the outlying districts like Lyra and Ike, Nakita and Greg. Then he was reading out District Ten.

"Astra Vee with a score of…" he paused, "Seven!"

Astra let out a small squeal and bounced on her seat. Joel patted her shoulder and even Phanka looked pleased.

"Well done, obviously they liked your disappearing act!"

"I got a seven. Did you guys see? I got a seven! Seven, seven, seven!" she squealed. She stopped bouncing as Caesar started to read Horace's score.

"And also from District Ten, Horace Tornake, with a score of…four,"

Astra bounced over to Horace and hugged him tightly, although she could tell he was disappointed.

"Look on the bright side, at least it was higher than two!" she shrugged and smiled. Horace managed a small smile, but his eyes remained down cast, "But don't feel bad. I probably only got that score because I went in with a sign saying 'I love Seneca Cranes beard!' Maybe you should have made one too. But not saying that you loved his beard because that would be weird. He might find it creepy. Although…"

"Astra, I think I get the point!" Horace said, but he was smiling.

"Did I cheer you up? Yay, you're happy again!" Astra squealed and started bouncing round inn circles, spinning Horace around with her. Joel just watched them and laughed. It was impossible to be feeling gloomy with her around.

…

Orion perched uneasily on the couch beside Jet. Shimmer had taken the spot next to Aurora, and there was no way he was going to sit next to her. So he was stuck with sitting next to Jet.

He was now starting to regret his actions in the training centre. Sure, it had felt like a good idea at the time, and he didn't regret showing them up. But now he wished he had thought of some other way. He still hadn't told Jet what he had done, like he was going to. But when his score came up, and it would undoubtedly be very low, there was sure to be questions.

Sure enough, after the anthem, Caesar Flickerman's face appeared on the screen.

"Good evening ladies and Gentlemen. I know you're all eager to find out how this year's tributes have done in their training. Well you don't have to wait any longer! "he started off the same way he always started, happy and bubbly. He had a sheet of paper in his hands, which no doubt had the scores on it. Orion's heart starting beating a little faster as Jet leaned forward expectantly, and his muscles coiled so he could bolt at a seconds notice.

"From District One, Shimmer Brillo with a score of…" there was a dramatic pause, "Ten!"

Shimmer looked slightly disappointed, "only a ten? My shooting was worth and eleven at least!"

Aurora patted her arm soothingly, "Don't worry Shimmer. The sponsors still love you! Besides, ten is fantastic!"

They stopped talking as Caesar Flickerman spoke once more, "and her district partner, Orion Ehra with a…" he stopped, looked at the paper and frowned. He did a double take, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Orion gulped and nearly bolted right then. A pause meant it was either really good, or really bad. And he was guessing bad. Caesar at last spoke again, "with a two."

Jet seemed to jolt slightly and a horrified silence descended on the room. Orion froze for a second and looked at his mentor, before moving to run from the room, but a hand clamped around the back of his neck, forcing him to stay put.

"A…two?" Jet hissed, in a low and very deadly voice.

"Um…well…oh look at distraction!"

*_Insert organ music here* Orion's in so much trouble!_

**Someone's gonna get it… Mwa ha ha ha!**

_Cliffhanger!_

**So what do you all think? In a mere matter of chapters they shall be in the arena, and Orion seems positive that he will have to be in it with the careers, and looks like neither Lyra or Ally are happy about it, I mean really who would want the most dangerous person in the games against you.**

_Not me, that's for sure! Grr, stupid Careers. Why are you so mean?_

**More like why does Orion have to be so logical! I mean why can't he be impulsive and just go with Astra like we know he wants to!**

_Because he is Orion! It is as simple as that!_

_Ally_

**I guess so, well we've got to start work on the next epic chapter so bye bye all.**

**~Selina**


	14. Run Orion Run

**Reviewers? Reviewers? Where for out thou?**

_Why...has...no...one...reviewed? *banging head into wall*_

**Don't you like us anymore? *insert puppy dog face here***

_Oh no, they don't like us! *start crying dramatically*_

***Snivel* Please, please review.**

Chapter 14: Run Orion Run

'Um…well…oh look at distraction!'

Unfortunately Jet was not fooled by that and his grip on the back of Orion's neck tightened, to point of making Orion hiss in pain.

"What did you do to get such a low score?" Jet demanded. Aurora and Shimmer were looking a little alarmed by this stage.

'Uh…'

'What the hell did you do?' Jet yelled a bit louder and tightened his grip even more. Orion let out a small gasp.

'If I tell you, you'll just get even madder!' He managed to say.

'Tell me what you did!'

Orion shook his head, before he suddenly, and without any warning, slammed his foot down on Jet's. The hand on his neck released and he scrambled away. But Jet it seemed had very fast reflexes, because he grabbed Orion and slammed him into the wall.

'Tell me right now!' He clamped his hand around Orion's throat, not choking him.

Unable to see the point in not telling him Orion nodded slightly, 'I walked in, I picked up my Katana, I dropped my Katana, I bowed and I walked out!' after he had said it he instantly wished he had lied because Jet's hand tightened, not fully strangling, but too tight to be comfortable.

'Tell me that you're joking!' he hissed.

'No joke. Completely serious!' Orion gasped.

'Shimmer, I want a report on the day. The whole day!'

Shimmer looked a little unsure, seeing as Jet already looked pretty pissed off, but she shrugged, 'He hung out with the little brat from district six. She showed him how to make a hammock and then he taught her how to throw knives. And just before lunch he had a sparring match with the girl from District Seven. He looked like he was enjoying himself during that,' Jet snarled and his hand tightened, completely cutting off Orion's air supply, the teenager choked and tried to twist his fingers under Jet's hand to loosen his grip.

'You insolent, brainless, arrogant child,' Jet growled, watching as Orion continued to choke, his feet kicked at the wall and he struggled uselessly, unable to move Jet's hand from his throat, 'I have told you so many times, to only associate with the Careers, but you disobeyed me every single time. And then you go and rebel against the Capitol. I just don't know what to do with to do with you anymore!'

Orion moved his lips as if he was trying to say something, but there was no sound. Jet slammed him into the wall again and he winced. His oxygen was running out rapidly, true he had a pretty good lung capacity, but this was almost too much. His lips were starting to turn a pale shade of blue and his struggles were getting weaker. He was pretty sure Jet was going to kill him, it felt like that anyway.

'You're an embarrassment to me, to the whole district! Why the hell did you volunteer if all you were going to do was screw things up?' Jet snarled, 'How dare you!'

Orion was pretty sure he was going to pass out soon from lack of oxygen, when a hand grabbed Jet's arm.

'Jet, let him go this instant!' Aurora snapped. Jet barely looked at her, more focused on choking the life from his tribute, 'I said, LET HIM GO!'

This time Jet did look at her and his eyes softened slightly. Aurora glared at him frostily for several more moments. Finally, just as Orion could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness Jet released his throat and flung him to the floor. He didn't bother to break his fall and just lay there coughing and gasping down as much oxygen as he could. His hand rested on his bruised throat as he panted. He was semi aware of Aurora leading Jet away, and he could vaguely feel as hands rested on his back.

'Oh my God, Orion are you okay?' Shimmer asked, sounding really concerned, which was very odd. For some reason there wasn't anything flirtatious about her, she was just concerned, 'Do you need ice or something? Do you want to go to the hospital wing?'

He shook his head, still unable to talk. He tried to push himself to his hands and knees but his head spun and he would have collapsed if Shimmer hadn't grabbed hold of his shoulders and helped him to sit.

'Are you sure you don't want help?' she asked again. Orion shook his head and gave her a thumbs up and she sighed. They both looked up as the door to the dining room opened and Aurora stepped in. She looked down at them with her frosty eyes and breathed deeply.

'Orion, I have to suggest that you make yourself scarce for the next few hours,' she said, very quietly, 'I've managed to calm him down a little bit but he's still fuming.'

Orion needed no more convincing, especially when Jet stepped through the door behind Aurora. Orion was on his feet in less than a millisecond and out the door in less than a second. There wasn't anywhere on the District One floor that he could go and it wasn't like he could go outside. He briefly thought about Lyra but he had gotten her into enough trouble already. So he went to someone else entirely.

...

Lyra sat watching the city below her frozen as she saw the lights glinting below her, people on the ground moving without a care in the world, tiny as ants from the seventh floor of the training centre, and for what seemed like the millionth time since she'd been here, she wished that time would just stop. This was the first place that she'd ever been that she felt that she belonged. Yes, she hated the Capitol with her whole heart, they were liars, murderers and ruthless dictators, but the people that she had met here… they almost felt like family. She had never had friends until she had been here, but even though they were all being sentenced to die horrible, painful deaths and only one would live on, she found that the people she had met here were some of the nicest in the world.

Belle, Charix, Chance and Iris were so sweet and innocent it almost didn't seem possible that they existed, they were kind and caring and in the three days she had known them, they were nicer to her than anyone had been in her whole life. Sparky, Horace, Ike, all complete sweethearts, they were the most nervous about the games and yet they had all found a reason to keep going, Sparky to protect Iris, Horace because he was so very afraid of death, and Ike because he was so desperate to get home to his family and friends. Jinx and Greg were some of the funniest people she had ever met, but in very different ways, Jinx was funny because like her he didn't have that block that stopped him from saying what he thought, admittedly he was a little bit sour towards where the careers were concerned, but who could blame him, Greg was a sadistic maniac, and yet his elaborate plans for death kept her laughing for hours.

And then there were the two people she had come closest to so far, Astra and Orion. She may have spent less time with Astra, but she was the most optimistic girl she had ever met and frankly it was a nice change. So many people withdrew into themselves when things went wrong but she went into the world with a smile in her heart and embraced the world for everything it was, only seeing the sweetness and ignoring as much as she could of the sour and bitter. Orion was someone that she got along with easily, he was stubborn, self-reliant, and just like her, most people confused him. He was brutal and yet he had an odd control over it, if you watched him for long enough you realised how much he was burying deep inside of himself, so much that he kept hidden. That's why he acted so emotionless, because he just buried it deep within him, hiding his real self from the world, so uptight that he just couldn't relax. But seeing him around Astra was a different story, that was the only time he had seemed to let go of the boundaries that he kept up constantly, they were so opposite from each other that something in them just clicked, and that just made her wonder when one of them was just going to cut the crap and kiss the other already.

This is where she belonged, with this group with these people. Not in District Seven getting flogged every other month, a place where the best part of her day was arguing with Toby and that was depressing just to think about it. In District Seven, she was struggling to get by, she was hated and she just couldn't stop for a second to relax because dropping her guard meant that she would be as good as dead, she just couldn't take living like that. Here she just could… do something other than take care of herself, and she knew that the day after tomorrow it would go straight back to like it had been to District Seven, fighting to survive, looking after herself and knowing that any day could be her last, where she scavenged for food, and avoided people from District 2, once it was the peacekeepers and now it would be the tributes, and if she didn't die in the arena, she would go back to District Seven, where no one liked her, no one at all.

She touched the diamond necklace at her throat, as shiny as it was, and it was strong, it wasn't going to decay or break down, it was going to last no matter what happened to it. And in a way she prayed she could become like it, there was nothing stronger than a diamond, and the only thing that can cut through diamond is a diamond, or a high powered laser, either one.

'Be a diamond Lyra, be a diamond,' she whispered to herself, 'don't break, don't bend, don't snap, just shine, be a diamond, be a diamond.'

She didn't know that Esperanza had heard her as he came to tell her to come have some dinner rather than stare into the distance. She was so afraid, she must be terrified, but she was staying strong. And she didn't quite realize that her inner strength had already begun to make her shine brighter. He was going to have to have to revise her outfit for tomorrow night, she was going to be a diamond outside as well as within if he had to stay up all night to make the outfit up to scratch to its wearer, shine as bright as the diamond that she was.

…

Although how he ended up in a cupboard was still a mystery to him. This was perhaps the strangest thing that he had ever done, and there was a very long list of strange things to go by. He pressed his back to the oak backboard and closed his eyes, still slightly woozy. His throat hurt and he assumed that it would for the next few days, although he did know he kind of deserved it.

He had been sitting in the cupboard for at least half an hour when the door was suddenly opened and he was bathed in light. He instantly jumped and tried to sink further back as Astra rummaged through the clothes.

'Where is that shirt?' she hissed, pushing aside the various clothes, Orion looked over at a soft blue shirt lying beside him on the floor, picked it up and held it out to her.

'Here?' he asked, waiting for her to start screaming, instead she reached out and took it from him with a polite smile.

'There it is! Thank you!' she chirped.

Then much to Orion's great surprise and amusement she simply stepped back and closed the door once more, plunging him back into darkness. He sat there, frowning. Had she really not noticed him? That seemed odd, even for her. He was still pondering when, about fifteen minutes later, the doors were flung open again.

'Orion? What are you doing in my closest?' Astra demanded, like it was the most normal question to be asking anyone, 'When did you get there? How did you get in?'

'Ah…'

'I mean really, many people would find it odd that you go around hiding in peoples cupboards. Although there was that time that I hid in my next door neighbours cupboard when I was playing hide and seek. No one found me for about four hours. I got really bored. Were you bored in there? Or are you one of those people that doesn't get bored anywhere? I think you are aren't you? Yeah you are! Although I really don't understand how someone can't get bored when they're doing nothing. It just doesn't work,' she suddenly stopped and shook her head, as she had just remembered what was actually going on, 'Sorry about that. But really, why are you in my cupboard?'

'I-I'm hiding from Jet. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you or creep you out. I'll go somewhere else if you want.'

'Did I say I was creeped out? No, I did not. You say that you're hiding from Jet? Why?'

'He didn't like my training score,' Orion shrugged.

'I'm not surprised,' Astra smiled sympathetically.

Orion half smiled back, still curled on the floor of her cupboard. It was of course right then that there was an echo of loud voices from the hall. Astra spun around and Orion froze when he recognised Jet's voice.

'Oh boy!' He hissed, 'I'm doomed!'

'Stay down!' Astra shoved him further back into the cupboard and slammed the doors. She turned around just as the door to her room opened and Joel's head appeared, 'Hey Joel!' she piped up and grinned massively, keeping her back against the cupboard doors.

Her mentor frowned at her, 'I have a really random question for you.'

'And I'm probably going to have a really random answer!' she smiled, 'You know you can come in.'

Joel stepped in through the door and Astra stiffened when she saw the tall, dark man behind him. She remembered vaguely seeing him at the chariot rides standing with the District One tributes.

'Are you Jet?' she asked sweetly, although she already knew the answer.

'Jet would like to know if you've seen the boy from his District,' Joel said, keeping his voice very polite, although Astra could see how ill contained his actual feelings of rage were.

'No!' Astra said, way too quickly. She instantly rectified herself, 'I mean no, no I haven't. Why would I have seen him? What would he be doing up here?'

Jet arched an eyebrow at her, but Astra raised her chin and smiled, 'An elevator did go up to the roof a little while ago. Maybe he went up there? Because he's not in here.'

'Okay Jet, you've got your answer. He's not here, so you don't need to be. Out you go!' Joel began bustling the District One mentor out of the apartment at once, 'Nice of you to pop by. We'll have to catch up again one day.'

Astra waited by the cupboard until her mentor returned. When he did she grinned at him sheepishly.

'He's in there isn't he?' he said.

'Mm-hmm.'

'Move aside.'

'But…' Astra protested.

'Astra, come on.'

'Aw…don't get to mad at him,' She said as she stepped aside.

Joel opened the cupboard doors and looked down at Orion who was huddled on the floor. The boy laughed nervously.

'Oh come on kid, no need for that. I'm not gonna hurt you!' Joel said in a friendly tone, 'Seriously, I'll do anything to get under Jetty boy's skin,'

Orion looked at Astra and she nodded in reassurance, "trust me. He looks mean but he's really, really nice. He's like a big, cuddly teddy bear!" she giggled and flung her arms around her mentor, who groaned but in the end resigned to being cuddled. He looked down at the boy in the cupboard.

'Are you just going to sit in there all day? Or do you want to come out?" he asked, Orion paused, looking extremely surprised, but slowly he slipped out of the cupboard, Astra grinned again and hugged Joel even tighter, 'okay kid…I can't…breath!'

'Oopsies!' Astra giggled and let him go, she turned to Orion who was still standing unsurely, looking very embarrassed.

'Maybe I should go back to my own floor,' he suggested.

Astra looked slightly crestfallen, 'But you've only just arrived!' she whined plaintively, and began insisting, 'Plus, Jet's a big meanie! Stay up here for a while!'

'Are you…sure?'

'Kid, that guy looked pretty damn pissed off. I suggest if you value your life, you stay up here for a while. Besides, by the look of those bruises, I'd say you've already had one too many run-ins with him today, hmm?'

Orion's hand went to his bruised throat and he smiled slightly, looking very embarrassed. Astra grinned and clapped her hands.

'Come on then! Let's go and see Horace. Oh, and maybe I should introduce you to Fanta! And Druella! Come on, come on, come on!' she skipped out of the room.

Joel turned to Orion, 'Are you alright? I know how that guy can get. Do you need anything?'

'No, no thank you. I'm fine!' Orion said quickly, 'But won't this get you guys in trouble?'

'Nah, the Capitol won't do anything unless it looks like you're going to start a rebellion. And between you and me, you simply having a crush on a girl isn't really gonna strike them as rebellion worthy. They'll be too busy Shipping you and designing wedding costumes.'

'Are you two coming or what?' Astra suddenly appeared in the door, 'Come on already!'

Orion hesitantly followed Astra out into the sitting room. Horace was there, fiddling with a deck of cards, which he instantly dropped when Orion came in. Druella dropped her nail file and a purple haired man, probably Phanka stood at once.

'Astra, what is the meaning of this?' Druella demanded in her shrill voice.

'Relax Druella, he isn't here to spy on anyone,' Joel simply said, plopping down in his seat, 'sheesh, anyone would think he had come charging in here with a weapon.'

'He's from another District! Goodness me Joel, you know it's forbidden for them to associate with each other outside of training hours. Imagine how the Capitol will react! I could lose my job, Phanka could lose his. You could be executed…'

'Um Druella, where exactly does it say that the tributes can't associate with each other outside if the training hours. I thought that they just didn't because the mentors didn't want them to? It never actually said anywhere. So I don't really see what the problem is,' Joel said calmly, the capitol woman stared at him for a few minutes before storming out of the room.

'I want nothing to do with any of this!' she snapped over her shoulder, Phanka followed straight after her simply leaving Joel, Astra, Horace and a very embarrassed Orion.

'Well that was awkward!' Astra quipped a few seconds later.

'Are we gonna get in trouble?' Horace asked, still picking up his scattered cards. Orion picked up one which had fallen at his feet and passed it to him.

'No, as I was saying to Orion before. So long as you aren't plotting rebellion they don't mind,' Joel settled back onto the couch, 'besides, so long as the mentors agree then there isn't really any problem to begin with it.'

...

Lyra was back inside crowded around the coffee table with Xandra, Ike, Gertrude Esperanza and Helena, over a humongous fondu pot. The melted chocolate was probably just about the best thing ever, and they all had those funny little forks, and were dipping marshmallows, strawberries, apples, oranges, bananas and several weird fruits that although Lyra didn't recognize, it didn't stop her dipping them in the chocolate by the bucket load. That was when there came a sharp knock on the door, Xandra frowned and rolling her eyes went to answer it.

She pulled the door open and then looking at the person on the other side of the door, she closed it again. And came and sat back down and dipped some sort of citrus thing into the fondu. Ike looked at Lyra and raised an eyebrow, who just shrugged and then went back to the fondu, the six of them had gotten a lot of chocolate on the table by now, and we were running out of it now, but Gertrude, who she had discovered was a lot nicer when she was eating chocolate had sent and Avox to get them some more about two minutes ago so another lot would be coming any minute, but that was when the door flew open.

'Where is he?' snapped a voice.

Lyra looked up a beam coming across her face and then asked, 'Jet, how's the face doing?'

Xandra looked at the humongous hand shaped bruise on Jet's face and then asked Lyra, 'You did that to him?'

'Yes.'

'Never have I been more proud of a tribute, and that includes the two that won,' Xandra said.

'Where is he?' Jet demanded.

'I have no idea what you are talking about,' Lyra said pleasantly.

'Orion, he ran off, where is he?'

'Why would he come to me? He knows that this would be the first place you'd look, I mean for gods sake, he's probably gone to Astra.'

'The girl from ten?' Xandra asked Lyra.

'Yeah.'

'Joel wouldn't just let him stay, he'd invite him to dinner and verse him in a card game if he knew that he's being pissing off Jet to half the degree that you've told me he has,' Xandra laughed.

'I was just up there, he's not there!' Jet snapped.

'Well then check again Kawasaki because he sure as hell isn't here, because if he was he'd be joining in on the fondu party,' Xandra said and then with a glare that could curdle blood, Jet left the room.

'Orion is in so much trouble,' Lyra commented.

'Why are you so convinced he'd be with Astra?' Ike asked, quirking an eyebrow at Lyra.

'Oh come on, those two have the chemistry of one of those Capitol crime shows, you know that they're going to end up together and be the most cute and kick ass couple in the world, you just don't know when its going to happen,' Lyra said and popped a marshmallow into her mouth.

And then for what seemed like the millionth time since she'd gotten here, 'Apple juice please,' she said with a beam at the Avox.

...

'What happened to him not being up here?' they all jumped at the voice behind them. Joel turned to face Jet, glowering at him.

'Do you ever knock?'

'Why should I? I'm District One and you are simply District Ten.'

'Mean!' Astra snapped at once.

'Shut your mouth you pathetic runt!' Jet sneered at her.

Astra looked slightly shocked before sinking back, clearly very stung by the words. She hung her head and her little shoulders curled. Orion placed a hand on her back, before turning to glare at Jet.

'Are you always this pleasant?' he asked. Jet glared at him.

'You're already in trouble. And you're going to be in more if you don't come with me right now!'

For a second Orion thought about refusing, but deciding that he had already gotten Astra and her team into enough trouble he made to stand. Only to be stopped by Joel.

'I don't recall hearing any manners!' Joel said frostily.

'I don't give a damn about manners. He's my tribute and as such he will obey my rules. Orion, now! We aren't wasting any more time with these insignificant people.'

'Okay so first you insult my tribute, and then you just go and insult everyone else. Get off this floor. Before I call in Peacekeepers!' Joel stood, and faced off Jet.

'I'm not leaving without my tribute!' Jet hissed.

'I think that that kid has every right not to want to go with you after the way that you treated him!'

'That kid deserves everything that he gets! He's a stupid, ignorant brat. Just like those pathetic little insects that you call tributes!'

Joel didn't say anything to that. He simply smiled and punched Jet hard across the face. When the District One mentor stumbled Joel grabbed his shirt collar.

'Don't you ever insult my tributes again. Got it. Now get off my floor! NOW!' He nearly threw Jet out into the corridor, for a second it looked like Jet would try to react, but after calculating the situation he stormed back to the elevator.

'Nice hit,' Orion said very quietly.

Astra managed a watery smile, 'Yeah, you kicked his butt!' she said.

'Yeah, well I just hope that the Peacekeepers don't come knocking.'

'He won't do that. He'll just tell Shimmer and myself to come after Astra and Horace in the games,' Orion said.

Joel nodded, 'Yeah, probably,' he sighed, 'but he was going to do that anyway, there hasn't been a time that we've both been mentors that I haven't slugged him for one thing or another, so he tends to send his tributes after mine. Astra are you all right?'

'Yeah, I'm okay,' she shrugged.

'Let me guess…he's really mean?' Orion asked and Astra nodded.

'Yeah, he's really, really mean.'

They all laughed and Astra smiled again, a bit wider, showing off her white teeth. For a brief second Orion's heart sped up slightly as he studied her pretty face, but he quickly shook his head to clear it. No, he wouldn't, he couldn't, think that.

'Are you still sure that I can stay?' Orion asked, hoping that the answer would be yes.

'Sure you can kid, I'm sure Astra would love it if you stayed. Besides, between you and me, you might wait to avoid Jet for the next few days. He's not a happy chappie at the moment.'

'Especially after what just happened,' Orion smirked, 'I almost feel sorry for the guy. He's been slapped by Lyra and punched by you in the space of two days.'

'That guy deserves everything he gets,' Joel said and crossed his arms.

Astra was practically bouncing on the sofa by now and they all looked at her, 'Are we having a slumber party? Yay, I love slumber parties! I've never had one before but I hear that they're really fun! Can we have candy? Or chocolate? Oh, can we have a pillow fight? I've always wanted to have a pillow fight…' She continued to babble on, making the other people in the room laugh as she bounced happily, having completely rebounded from Jet's comment earlier.

They sat around talking for the next few hours despite the fact that it was getting very late. Horace disappeared after a while, bidding them all goodnight, leaving just Astra, Joel and Orion. They continued to talk, mostly about little things like the training stations and the scores of the other tributes, although they did get into a massively competitive game of cards at one point which Orion had lost to Horace. At one point Astra started babbling about how she hoped Phanka wouldn't dress her up as a chicken for the interviews. This was followed by Orion saying that he hoped that Fabianna would allow him to actually wear clothes.

It was probably around eleven when, much against his will, Orion drifted off to sleep. His mother had once joked that he didn't actually sleep; he hibernated, because he would sometimes just drop off to sleep at the most random times, without any warning, and when he was asleep, you couldn't wake him up for love of money.

Astra gently shook Orion's shoulder a few times, but got no response. She smiled softly as she studied him. He had tucked his legs up next to him and his head was resting on his arms. Asleep, he was completely relaxed and his face lost its serious and almost cold look. He looked younger and much more innocent than she could have ever thought possible.

'Oh my God, Joel, he looks like a five year old,' she whispered to her mentor, who peered over her shoulder and raised his eyebrow.

'Hm, you're right. That's kind of odd,' he said, just as quietly, as neither of them wanted to wake him.

'Is it okay if he stays here?' Astra asked, 'just for tonight.'

'I don't mind. But you missy should be thinking about going to bed soon. It's very late!'

'I will in a minute,'Astra said.

Joel looked at her for a few seconds, before shrugging, standing and walking out calmly. Astra remained on the couch beside Orion, watching him as he slept. He looked so peaceful, as if the walls that he put up when he was awake all came crumbling down when he slept. For a second she wondered how someone, with such obvious skill and power, could possibly look like this. It was very obvious to her that he had a fair amount of brutality hidden inside, and she knew that once she got into the arena that the Orion she had come to know might very well cease to exist. She thanked the Avox that came up to her and offered her a blanket and pillow, before carefully covering Orion's curled up body.

The games were barely two days away. Tomorrow she would spend the day with Joel and Druella as they prepped her for the interviews the following day. And then she would be in the arena, fighting for her life.

She had seen enough of the games to know how they worked. If you were small and weak, like many of the tributes from the outlying Districts were, you would be picked off almost at once. She wouldn't make it out and she had long accepted that.

Her thoughts turned to Lyra, and about how good the girl was. She had a chance of returning home, but Astra had sensed it that, just below the surface, was an awful lot of sadness and malice. What had caused that, Astra had no clue, but she could see it in Lyra's eyes, through her actions and even through the way she talked. But for all that, Lyra was one of the nicest people she had really ever met. Lyra accepted Astra, put up with her, and didn't treat her like an insane or stupid creature, like so many people in her District did.

Astra shook her head at the unfairness of it all. The people she had met here were some of the nicest and sweetest people she had met in her whole life and by the end of the month all of them would be dead. She didn't think that even Orion would get out; she had seen him with Belle, the way he interacted with everyone at lunch, the way he interacted with her and even what he looked like now. Then she thought of Seir, Kali, Botis and Lilith. Brutal, sadistic, cruel, the stereotypical careers. One of them would no doubt be a winner this year; there was no way that they couldn't be.

She sighed deeply, and looked away, out of the window that overlooked the candy, fluorescent buildings of the capitol. Astra didn't hate, she couldn't hate. But this whole place, this situation, the multi-coloured, plastic people around her, made her wish, more than anything, that hatred was an emotion that had been granted to her. She despised them all, them and their stupid games. Yet at the same time, she pitied them, that they were unable to gain the love of a nation without the use of force.

'This sucks!' she whispered.

Her train of thought trailed off then, as exhaustion overwhelmed her. Without even thinking about what she was doing she lay down on the couch beside Orion and drifted off to sleep in about two seconds flat.

When Joel came back into the room a few minutes later he was greeted with the sight of the two teenagers cuddled into each, both sound asleep. He smiled slightly and shook his head. Teenagers these days.

**So are you going to review now?**

_I personally think that this is a review worthy chapter. I mean seriously, how cute are they?_

**Don't review and you won't get a chapter for quite some time, Ally's already on holidays from school and I am next week so you could get plenty of chapters but you won't if you don't review!**

_And trust me, it's going to get very interesting, very soon._

**I mean we just finished Chapter 14 and they're in the arena in Chapter 17, I mean really its all gonna go down soon, don't you want to know how this all happens? I mean you don't even understand the title yet.**

_Oh it's so exciting. Please review and let us write these really exciting chapters._

**Bye bye my lovely readers and my even lovelier future reviewers!**

**~Selina**

_Cheerio oh, my darlings. Would you be so kind as to grace us with a review?_

_:) Ally_


	15. Knock 'em dead

**Readers we are back and loving you for the reviews you sent us!**

_But we must say special thanks to Little Bit Loopy, who so far as reviewed on every chapter! We didn't forget about you Loopy!_

**And to our other amazing reviewers, Ravenclawtribute, who I have already spoken to, I think you should all check out her hunger games story she does a rather damn good job of telling it. T. C. Bahn Zane we do hope this is up to scratch for the interviews. Wetstar you think they're cute now? We've barely begun, we shall put the kitten in your profile pic to shame with the cuteness we have planed. CuriosityBebz I know what you mean and now that you mention she is quite like Pinkie Pie, I don't think Ally gets it, but eh, either way. CiaraMarie96 It's okay, we just hope to get as many reviews as possible! And we're both glad you like our characters! And lastly to Hufflepuff, thanks again puffinator for the review and we'll see you when you review again. Anything you want to add Al?**

_Roses are red_

_Violets are blue_

_To those who reviewed_

_We really love you_

Chapter 15: Knock 'em dead

_Aurora glided down the corridor of the District One floor. Shimmer was with Jet, discussing her angle for the interviews. Usually, as most of the other districts only had one mentor, the mentor would do the angles and the escort would work on presentation. For District One it was slightly different. Jet was working on angles and personalities and Aurora on the way that they would present themselves._

_The only problem with that plan was the fact that they only had one tribute to work with at the moment. Orion still hadn't made an appearance after disappearing last night. Aurora was slightly relieved at that because Jet was still in a foul mood, considering that fact that he now had another bruise on the other side of his face, courtesy of Joel. But now Aurora was getting slightly worried. She had found that she had a slight soft spot for the headstrong boy, liking his stubbornness and will to go against everything that his mentor told him to do, although she had yet to get in a proper conversation with him, as he spent most of his time hiding from Jet. _

_She pushed open the door to his room and looked around, hoping that maybe he had finally come back down. It was empty, and she was about to close the door, slightly disappointed when she saw a slight movement of the sheets on the bed. She arched an eyebrow and smiled slightly, quietly closing the door and making her way over._

_'I thought hiding under beds was for little children,' she said as she pulled up the sheet and peered under, Orion let out a slight yelp of surprise and jumped, banging his head on the wooden bed slats._

_'Ouch,' he muttered as he rubbed his head, Aurora shook her head in amusement hiding a small amount of laughter._

_'I didn't mean to startle you,' she smiled gently, 'I was just wondering where you'd got to,' Orion stared at her blankly, and looked down right suspicious when she gestured for him to come out, 'Don't worry. Jet's working with Shimmer at the moment. They're getting along very well, far better than I get on with her. I don't think we really need to worry about him barging in,' she reassured him._

_'Um...'_

_'Out you come, good boy,' she stepped back so he could slide out from under the bed, he was still in his clothes from the night before and the bruises on his neck had darkened to shades of purple and blue, 'Now then. To work.'_

_'What are we working on?' Orion asked, confused._

_'The interviews are tomorrow night. You have today to work with your mentors to choose an angle and work on presentation. Seeing as you most likely won't want to go near Jet, I'd better get busy.'_

_'What do you mean by angle?'_

_'What personality will you play? You know, do we portray you as funny, witty, charming? Those sorts of things.'_

_'Oh...' Orion said although she could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't particularly eager to discuss this, let alone put any sort of plan into action._

_'Jet told me that he would like you to go for a charming angle,' Aurora said slowly, Orion raised an eyebrow, he was the one trying not to laugh now, 'Now I know that simply because he said that, you're going to go the complete opposite.'_

_'How'd you guess?' Orion asked, looking vaguely amused._

_'That's the way you've been acting this whole time. Plus, it's the way that I acted during my games. I figure you're a lot like me in many respects.'_

_'Really?'_

_'Oh yes, I was quite the trouble maker. I did everything I physically could to get under my mentor's skin. I think she still hates me, although seeing as I glued her cupboards shut last month I'm not surprised' Aurora smirked devilishly, a new light coming into her eyes. _

_Orion looked slightly bewildered, before he half smiled, 'What angle do you suggest?' Orion asked, genuinely curious to hear her opinion. _

_Aurora smiled again, and nodded approvingly, the usual frosty light leaving her eyes entirely, 'Grab a seat; we have a lot to discuss.'_

'There, all done,' Orion jolted back into reality by a sharp tug to his jacket collar. He blinked hazily for a few seconds as Fabianna dusted off his shirt quickly, 'what do you think dear?'

Orion turned, half dreading what he was going to see, but he was pleasantly surprised. It was a plain suit, made out of an unrestrictive dark blue fabric, which matched his eyes perfectly. Actually, when he looked at it a bit harder, he could see the very subtle colour changes through the jacket, where the blue would go slightly lighter or darker. He was wearing a black button up shirt although she'd done up the top button and he was barely able to stop himself undoing it. She had spent at least half an hour trying to smooth his hair down, to absolutely no avail as it still stuck up at every odd angle possible. She had covered up the bruises on his neck and the one on his jaw expertly; you couldn't tell that they had been there to start with.

'Do you like it?' Fabianna asked from just beside him.

'It's alright,' he shrugged

'Good, I'm glad. You didn't seem to like the last one,' she said, smiling at him sweetly, but at the same time he was sure she was offended that she didn't like the first outfit, Orion refrained from a sarcastic comment, 'Oh, I almost forgot the tie. I'm so sorry dear. This won't take a minute.'

'You can't expect me to wear a tie.'

'But the tie completes it, besides it looks good.'

'But…'

'No buts, tie on now.'

'You do realize that I'm just going to take it off as soon as I go up,' he didn't think that he imagined the slight twitch of Fabianna's eye.

...

_'Lyra for once will you just listen to me?' Gertrude begged as Lyra dropped the heels that Gertrude had given her out the window._

_'Never, I thought we'd established that already, for god's sake, your attempts to civilize me aren't going to work. I told you from day one, I'm a thieving street rat with low etiquette and social skills and a complete lack of table manners, you self-pampering, pompous, narcissistic, shallow egg heads have nothing to love about me, so I'm not going to put on an act to try to please you. And that is pretty much a direct quote,' Lyra didn't even raise her voice, she said it calmly with the air of someone explaining a simple maths problem to a rather stupid classmate._

_Gertrude opened her mouth, absolutely fuming, well at least until Xandra decided to walk in and said, 'Switching?'_

_'Already? I thought I wasn't being freed for the next half hour?' Lyra asked._

_'Ike is easy to teach, and one of you is going to kill the other if you spend any longer together,' Xandra said with a shrug._

_Gertrude flounced out and Xandra sat down next to Lyra, 'Well?' Lyra asked._

_'You tell me.'_

_'Huh?'_

_'For god's sake, if I tell you to play another angle other than you being yourself, then you aren't going to do it.'_

_'Actually I might... I need sponsors, I know that, but the thing is, most people don't like me, I'll need your help to win over the Capitol,' Lyra confessed although she felt odd doing it._

_'Then why didn't you listen to Gertrude?' Xandra asked, Lyra raised an eyebrow and Xandra laughed, understanding the answer, 'Look, there is no way you can keep up playing an angle all throughout the games, and if I tell you to play something you aren't, and then you reveal your true self, then the sponsors will be is only so long that you can suppress the real you, and when you are in the arena it will be that much harder.'_

_'So you want me to just go up and do whatever the hell I want?'_

_'Yes, my opinion was never going to stop you anyway.'_

_Lyra hesitated but nodded, 'I hope you know what you're doing.'_

_'So do I,' Xandra said honestly, and with the glare she earned she added, 'You're likable Lyra, you just have to let them see the real you.'_

'Lyra?'

'Huh?' Lyra asked snapping out of her flashback moment.

'I'm done,' Esperanza said simply and pulled the cloth of the mirror so she could see

Lyra's eyes widened as she finally saw her reflection, now this was what she called... she didn't have much of a word for it, it didn't look like her but it did at the same time, just... different, in a way she didn't realize could feel so... good. Part of her just sort of felt like something had... clicked, that hadn't been there before.

'You my dear, are a diamond,' Esperanza said smiling at her.

'You were eavesdropping on me weren't you?'

'Perhaps...' Esperanza said with the crypticness of a puzzle for five year olds.

'...Thank you...'

'You like it?' Esperanza asked proudly.

Lyra nodded, the stunned look on her face remarkable. Her long curls had been straightened until they hung in a river of blondes, browns and golds down her back, the top layer had been pulled up in a bun, which had diamond tipped chopsticks sticking through it. Her eyes had been delicately highlighted with eyeliner, and although the lids of her eyes had been painted white with eyeshadow, there was a dusting of gold surrounding it that swirled a little bit at the edge of her eyes. She was still wearing Mina's necklace, Esperanza had told her to keep it on, on one wrist there was a heavy golden cuff taking up half her forearm, studded with diamonds, and on the other wrist there was a pile of golden bangles. But it was really the dress that stunned her, because she was pretty sure it qualified as a ball gown. It was strapless, and a bright, pure white, the top may have been tight but the skirt on the other hand pooled out in multi layered skirts. But over the bright white fabric, a see-through silvery layer had been added, dusted finely with gold glitter, making her shine gently. On her feet were strappy golden high heels, which made her slightly wish she actually had paid attention to Gertrude because she wasn't entirely sure she could walk in them, but as she spun around slightly to see herself completely, she realized that if she could walk a tightrope as easily as she did she could certainly walk in these.

'Now, go out there and steal the Capitol's hearts,' Esperanza said smiling at her, and kissing her on the forehead.

She grinned at him slowly and nodded, but she couldn't help her next comment, 'They have hearts?' He raised an eyebrow at her, and she added, 'Present company accepted of course.'

He laughed and said, 'Knock 'em dead.'

'If only I could.'

'Lyra.'

'Oh come on you know I'm joking... sorta.'

'Lyra!'

'Love ya' Esperanza, now if you'll excuse me, I have a crowd to win over,' Lyra laughed, and blowing her stylist a kiss she walked out giggling to herself.

...

_'Stop slouching, sit up straight, knees together, hands on your lap, head high,' Druella instructed, sharply forcing Astra to do what she was telling her to do by grabbing hold of her arms and moving them forcefully, or tapping her impatiently on the back. _

_'Like this?' Astra asked, trying to sit as she was told to. _

_Druella stood back and examined her thoughtfully, 'Alright, but dear you don't need to smile that much.'_

_'But you told me to smile,' Astra looked confused, 'I can't frown and smile at the same time. It just doesn't work.'_

_'I don't mean frown, I mean maybe try to look a little more serious than that.'_

_'But if I try to look serious then I start laughing.'_

_'Well we must teach you not to laugh,'_

_'Why would you want to teach me not to laugh?'_

_'Because laughter is not ladylike.'_

_'I've never been one for ladylikeness. Is that even a word? It sounds like it should be. If it's not I will make it a word!'_

_'Dear, that's unrelated to the current topic,' Druella rubbed just over her eyelids, looking and sounding quite stressed. _

_'But don't you think that it should be a word?' Astra asked, tilting her head to one side inquisitively. _

_Druella simply nodded and forced a smile, having found out the hard way it was easier to simply go along with whatever Astra was saying unless you wanted to go into a full scale debate, 'Of course honey. But please, can we just focus on this. Don't you want to charm the sponsors?' _

_'Relax Druella, they already love me!' Astra grinned, 'didn't you say that?'_

_'Of course. Now, as I was saying…'_

_'I mean seriously, I don't see how my posture will effect whether people love me or not. It's completely ridiculous. How can you base someone's success on how well they sit? It just defies logic…'_

_'ASTRA, please be quiet,' Druella snapped, making Astra jump and giggle nervously. _

_'Sorry.'_

_'Good, now, as I was saying, we've got sitting sorted. Now for walking. You're going to have to walk in heels no doubt so I brought a pair for us to practice in,' Druella dumped a set of high heels on the floor, Astra stooped and picked them up. _

_'These aren't shoes, they're weapons of mass destruction,' she said, tapping the tip of the heel, 'how am I expected to be able to walk in these?'_

_'With practice, now come on, put them on.'_

_'No thanks. I think I'll break my neck in these,' Astra put the shoes back on the floor gingerly, as if she was afraid that they would explode if she handled them to roughly, Druella picked them up again and forced them into her hands._

_'Astra, I'm not asking.'_

_'But, but, but…'_

_'Now, please.'_

_'But I don't wanna die!' Astra wailed, Druella groaned in exasperation and collapsed onto the chair nearby, head in her hands, Astra giggled again, but bent down and started to strap the shoes on, not liking to see anyone, even her annoying escort, annoyed or upset, 'Ooh, I'm really high up!' she wobbled on the balls of her feet, not used to the sensation. _

_Druella looked up and sighed deeply, although she smiled slightly, 'Dear, just try to walk normally. It's basically the same.'_

_Astra tried to walk, but ended up tripping and landing flat on her stomach, she looked up at Druella, 'He-he, Oopsies.'_

_'It could take a little bit of practice. But come on Astra, I'm sure you'll be able to.'_

_It took a fair amount of practice indeed. But, after a good hour of solid drilling Astra was walking fluidly, although when she tried to skip she tripped over straight away. Druella kindly reminded her that heels were not for skipping in as she got to her feet once more. _

_'So now I can sit and walk like a lady,' Astra said, counting off on her fingers, 'What else do I need to do?'_

_'We need to work on talking and when it's an appropriate time to smile and when it's not.'_

_'Are you still going on about that smiling thing? Why can't I smile? Besides, you should know that when I get up there I'll be really, really nervous and I'll start smiling even more. I don't know why I start smiling when I'm nervous. I just do. It's really funny. Although you don't look very amused. Sorry, should I shut up now?'_

Astra snapped back into the present by a sharp jab to the back. She batted away Phanka's hands with an indignant growl as he prodded her rather roughly.

'Would you just hold still?' the stylist demanded snappily, 'I'm nearly done anyway.'

She rolled her eyes and tried to obey him as he tugged at the strings on the back of the dress, tightening them slightly so he could tie them. She had spent practically the whole day with her stylist and prep team as they had tried to get her ready for the interviews. It had been incredibly boring, especially when they had been doing makeup and she hadn't been allowed to move a muscle.

'Okay, I am all done. Take a look,' Phanka said at last, gesturing dramatically for her to turn around to face the mirror.

He looked very pleased with himself as he circled her slowly. She turned to face the mirror, really expecting the worst. But it really wasn't all that bad. Her short hair had been curled ever so slightly and was pinned back from her face with sparkling clips. The way her makeup had been done it looked sort of like there were elegant and beautiful butterfly wings outlining her eyes. But it was the dress that got her. It was a strapless, with a fitted bodice, that seemed to give her curves that she had never really had before. The skirt came down to her just above her knees and looked almost like the petals of a rose, and felt just as soft. It was made out of an aqua coloured, satiny material that shone in the light, and small parts of the skirt seemed to have a layer of glitter, making it sparkle as well. Golden bracelets snaked up her arms and she was wearing little sandals, that thankfully came with a minimal heal.

'Fanta, it's beautiful,' she said, and it was the truth, she loved it, Phanka looked pleased that she appreciated his "work of art", although the name Fanta still irritated him obviously, 'I look like a fairy.'

'That was the idea. This interview is supposed to show the real you. The costume must reflect your personality.'

'You think I'm a fairy?'

'You act like one sometimes. Always singing and dancing around.'

'I like fairies. And I like these shoes! I can actually walk in them. The ones that I used with Druella were like this high! Seriously, you could hurt yourself if you fell over in them. Not to mention the damage you could do if you threw it at someone. It would hurt. A lot…'

...

Orion was standing with Shimmer, listening to her infernal giggling as she strutted around. Her dress was strapless, had a large hole cut out of the back and had a large slit coming up the leg, made out of a rather see-through material, and was in high heels so massive that she not only was taller then him, but it was by a good two inches. She thought she looked amazing, he on the other hand was staring longingly at the wall and wondering why it had to be so far away. Shimmer put a hand with ridiculously long manicured fingertips on his shoulder, and without even looking at her he pushed the hand off.

'Orion are you listening to me?' she demanded, batting her overlong fake eyelashes at him.

'No.'

'Orion!'

'What do you want?' he groaned.

'I'm going to say a few things up there about you, and you are going to go along with it,' she instructed.

'Sure, sure, whatever,' he said precisely to shut her up.

'Look whose come in clothes today. Hey Orion,' chirped a voice, and he found himself met by Lyra's smile as she practically glided forward, he noticed that she was wearing her shoes on her hands but although it was a little odd, she still looked quite brilliant.

He favored her with a half-smile and she beamed in return, Shimmer glared at both of them, before proceeding to say, 'You know for someone who took so long to come out, your stylist hasn't managed to improve on anything, you still look like a fugly tramp.'

Orion felt the irratance rising in him, he couldn't comprehend why Shimmer was trying to tear Lyra down so drastically and so falsely, he opened his mouth to say something, but he shouldn't have bothered because Lyra's tongue was faster than a whip and she instantly said, 'Well when someone's wearing so little clothing it's no wonder you were out here so early.'

Orion's snort of laughter at the comment clearly annoyed Shimmer because she swatted him on the arm, but the smile that lit Lyra's face up was more than worth the slight red mark he no doubt had on his arm. Shimmer tossed her head and began talking to Seir in a hushed tone, Orion couldn't be bothered to listen to them so he turned to Lyra and started talking to her.

'Your stylist clearly likes you.'

'Esperanza is awesome, but why do you say that?'

'There is way more effort in your dress than anyone else's,' Orion said.

Lyra looked around, only half of the other tributes had shown up so far, but it was pretty obvious what Orion meant. The ones with the least effort were obviously not on good terms with their stylists, because they really hadn't even bothered to make them look particularly good. Cady and Cole clearly hadn't been too lucky with their stylists once again because both were wearing rather plain clothes, and Cady's was concentrated mostly on her figure, and it was made of very thin fabric. Ursula and Basil had been clearly had a slacker as one of the stylists because even Lyra could tell from here that they had been made by the same person. Horace just looked bug-eyed. Charix looked even thinner than usual because her dress was very clearly not fitted properly. Jinx had done something to piss his mentor off because his suit was too tight and he looked physically pained breathing. And even Botis who had just stomped down kind of looked a little hunch-backed, but whether that was because of his stylists attitude towards him or the amount of material actually required to cloth such a large individual, no one was quite sure.

'I see what you mean. Your stylist doesn't seem too unhappy with you.'

'Fabianna? I just couldn't be bothered to tell her to stop ogling my chest, it was pretty awkward, but then again, apparently Aurora was responsible for getting me to be able to wear a shirt.'

Lyra grinned, 'I'm sure there will be many girls in the Capitol who are heartbroken. By the by, I thought you said that Aurora was only saving you from Jet because she didn't want to have a dead tribute on her hands.'

'She's been oddly nice to me today; I guess she feels sorry for me, but she did say I reminded her a little of her when she was in the games.'

'I guess so, speaking of which Farbric-la-la managed to cover up your strangle bruises pretty well,' Lyra pointed out.

'And thank god for that- Wait how'd you hear about them?'

'Astra, who else? I had dinner at hers last night, Xandra and Joel are pretty good friends so he invited us up, although he did seem to take quite some joy in telling me that you and a certain ray of sunshine were quite... cuddly all night. Apparently you were pretty wrapped in each others arm by the time you two woke up the next morning.'

Instantly Orion went to deny it, 'I have no idea what you're talking about.'

'I've seen the photographic evidence Orion there is no point lying to me,' Lyra said smugly.

'He took pictures?' he demanded but then seeing the smile that lit up her face he realized something, 'You were bluffing weren't you?'

'Oh yeah.'

'Don't you dare-' Orion began but he was cut off suddenly by a loud squeal.

'Orion!' squeaked a voice and Astra bounding forward out of nowhere wrapped her arms around his neck hugging him tightly.

'Astra- neck- bruises,' he choked vaguely.

'Oops sorry!' she giggled and let go, but then noticing the glare she was getting of Shimmer she stuck her tongue out.

But Orion was to busy staring at Astra and before he could stop himself the words, 'You look beautiful,' fell straight out of his mouth.

She went bright pink in the face and he felt the same thing happen to him, although he hoped it wasn't to the same extent. But judging by how much Lyra began to laugh and Shimmer's reaction he knew that it must have been pretty bad. Shimmer smacked him harder then she ever had and this time it was across the back of the head, she glared at him but instantly Lyra once again beat him to the punch for the comeback.

'If you were trying to mess up his hair honey it isn't working, in fact the only way to mess up his hair any more involves a cross between super glue and cement, and an electric eel.'

Shimmer glared at her, and then turned and flounced off, her lack of dress moving with her, but she suddenly stumbled in her humongous heels which instantly made the three of them laugh until Lyra suddenly stopped laughing and said, 'Orion, Astra I was hoping to talk to you about something.'

'Sure thing,' Astra chirped.

'Yeah. What?'

'Tomorrow, I was wondering if the two of you-' She stopped mid-sentence and glared at something behind him.

Orion turned so he could see and found himself face to face with Seir. The District Two boy was dressed in a full black suit and heavy black boots, which made his cold eyes even colder. He frowned at the glare he was getting off Lyra and the confused look he was receiving from Astra before turning back to Orion, who was watching him carefully.

'Orion, a word,' was all he said.

Orion shrugged slightly and followed Seir over to the edge of the groups of people standing around and chatting. He glanced back over his shoulder to see Astra frown and cock her head in a questioning manner. He shrugged, with a "I have no idea" face, which made her laugh slightly. He looked back at Seir just as he started talking.

'So, Orion…I'm gonna get straight to the point here. We're going into the games tomorrow, and I wanna know who's on my side and who's not. Obviously I know about District Four, Kali and Shimmer, but I don't know about you. You haven't really been around us for the past few days and I want to know who's alliance you're in. So, my question for you is, are you with the careers?'

Orion thought for a few moments. More than anything he wanted to say no, that he was with Astra and Lyra. But he couldn't. Not without becoming an immediate target himself. And, as much as he liked Astra and Lyra, he still wasn't quite willing to die just yet. Besides, even if he said he was a career, he could easily split off from them later on. He just needed to get past the blood bath.

'Of course I'm with the careers,' he said smoothly, 'why wouldn't I be?'

'I'm just going off the fact that I haven't spoken more than two words to you for the past six days. I like to know my allies,' Seir replied.

'And I like to know my enemies,' Orion looked Seir straight in the eye.

It was true, he did like to know his enemies, but who was he referring too when he said that? He didn't know. But he certainly felt that he'd much rather be friends with Astra and Lyra, but then again if anyone made a powerful enemy it was Seir, he had seen enough to know that if it came down to a straight one on one brawl, Seir would be the one he'd have the most trouble with.

'I'll be seeing you in the arena then. I've seen you in practice you use the sword right.'

'Katana...' he said testily, he always hated when people misused the name of his weapon.

'Hm, that could be useful. I'll see you in the Games. Good luck with your interview,' Seir nodded in approval, oddly pleasant, before walking off to join Kali who was watching them with her hawk like eyes.

Orion breathed a deep sigh of relief as soon as Seir was gone. There was just something about that guy that put him on edge, made him feel uncomfortable. It was probably the future serial killer vibe he radiated, or it could have just been his sparkling personality, either one. He could already see how quickly Seir could change from pleasant and charming to dangerous. He turned and was about to head back over to Astra and Lyra, when out of the rhetorical nowhere, he was punched squarely across the jaw, knocking him off his feet. He looked up to see Lyra glaring at him, looking oddly intimidating for a girl dressed like a Princess, and in a state of anger he hadn't seen before.

'Lyra? What the heck was that for?' he asked, sitting up slightly, rubbing his jaw.

Lyra just glared at him, for a few moments before kicking him so hard in the side he was pretty sure she might have cracked a rib. And turning on her heel and flouncing off to Ike's side who didn't look surprised at all, but did offer him a half sympathetic look. He looked over at Astra for an explanation and was surprised to find that she just looked at him with the most shocked and upset, almost betrayed expression, before slowly turning and plodding over to where Horace was standing with Belle, Iris and Sparky.

'...Why do I get the feeling that I've just made the biggest mistake of my life?' he asked the open air in front of him.

...

'Ladies and Gentlemen, Shimmer Brillo!' Caesar shouted.

As Shimmer strutted off, waving and blowing kisses and calling out to the audience, 'I'll see you all next time, I love you all,' and as she flounced off she didn't even notice the tie swinging from the back of her dress.

It was now Orion's turn and he really starting to feel the nerves now, Caesar waited for the crowd to settle before starting again, 'and now, we have the male tribute from District One, Orion Ehra!'

The crowd started cheering at once and Orion steeled himself before stepping out onto the brightly lit, over-warm stage. Now he really wished that he didn't have to wear a stupid suit, but he did not regret losing the tie, no matter where it had ended up. And attaching it to the back of Shimmer's dress had been a convenient if not brilliant place to put it, she hadn't even noticed even though everyone else hadn't. Feeling obligated to at least do something he waved to the still cheering crowd before shaking Caesars outstretched hand. The two of them took their seats and the crowd settled down.

'So, Orion, tell me. What's it like having two victors for parents? Is it stressful for you? Because I'm sure that they're definitely pressuring you to win. Tell us a little bit.'

Orion thought for a brief second, then shrugged, 'It's okay.'

'A man of few words are we?'

Orion remembering he'd gotten a laugh when Lyra had asked a similar question he simply nodded once and Caesar and the audience laughed. Once the laughing had stopped Caesar had come up with another question. He had a different collection for each tribute, although he did ask about the families quite a lot.

'According to some interviews you're a very intelligent boy. You like to focus on your work. What do you do when you're not working? Do you have any hobbies?'

'Walking,' Orion said bluntly, which was true, he liked to wander aimlessly for hours on end, lost in his own thoughts.

'Walking eh? Do you do anything else?'

'Running,' that was also true, if he got bored of walking he would run, although sometimes he would run simply because the neighborhood dogs were after him again.

'What do you most miss about home?' Caesar asked and the audience hushed up, obviously expecting this to be a painful question.

'Nothing,' that was the complete and utter truth.

He missed nothing about his home or his District. He didn't miss the long and quite often very painful hours of training, his pushy parents, anything. Caesar and the audience looked and sounded slightly astonished but Caesar recovered in record time and continued.

'Why don't you tell us a bit about your token for the games? From what I hear it's quite unusual. What is it?'

Orion gestured down to his shoes, which he had laced with his shoelace, 'it's my lucky shoelace.'

'I see. How is it lucky?'

'It just is.'

There was a ripple of laughter from the audience and Caesar smiled, "come on, there has to be some kind of reason why you call it lucky,"

'It's just lucky.'

'So you have good luck when you wear it?'

'Yes.'

The audience laughed again and Caesar, who must have decided that he had finally exhausted the topic moved on. Orion had no idea how long he would have to spend up here, but he didn't think that any other tributes had spent this long up here before. He shifted slightly, getting a bit uncomfortable in his suit.

'Onto the games now. Can you tell us what your strategy is?'

'To not die,' Orion said blankly.

Internally thinking that even if he did have a strategy why would he tell the whole world, especially the Gamemakers, who would find a way to make it blow up in his face. The audience cracked up yet again, making Orion wonder if they had all taken something beforehand, because he couldn't see how anything he was saying was funny.

'I can't help but notice that there's a small bruise on you jaw. Dare I inquire?' Caesar asked, leaning forward.

'Lyra,' was all Orion said.

'The District Seven girl?'

Orion nodded his head and Caesar whistled and looked at the audience pointedly, before asking, 'Are you mad at her?'

'No,' Orion said, which evidently surprised everyone watching, which was the whole country.

'Why not?'

'Because I'm sure I deserved it,' Orion half shrugged, as if it was the least important thing in the world, when in reality he was still trying to figure out what he had done.

'And why would you have deserved that?'

'It's Lyra,' was his response, which drew another round of laughter.

'Okay, so I think we have time for one more question. Tell us a bit about Shimmer. There's an awful lot to suggest that there's something going on between the two of you. What's your view on your District partner?'

Of course, in true Capitol style, everyone leaned forward in their seats expectantly when they heard of a possible relationship. Orion raised an eyebrow as he thought, Shimmer had all but stated that they were dating. Now, Shimmer annoyed the hell out of him and he would have loved to say exactly what he thought of her. But at the same time, he had an issue with insulting someone and humiliating them on live T.V. because no matter how much of a pain she was, even she didn't deserve that. So he answered as honestly as possible without sounding to nasty.

'I can tell you right now that there is nothing going on between us. We aren't even particularly good friends, it's more like inharmonious acquaintances really.'

'She was under the impression that there was something going on,' Caesar said, and Orion could tell that the audience was slightly disappointed.

'Well there isn't. And she can stop trying to insist there is because it can get very irritating after a while,' Orion said.

'So, if Shimmer isn't the girl for you, then perhaps there's someone else? I mean with a face like that how can there not be. Tell us Orion; is there anyone special in your life? Anyone that has managed to capture your heart?'

'Yes,' the word was out of his mouth before he even registered that he'd said it.

...

'Are you ready Lyra?' Ike asked as he straightened the collar of his pale blue shirt which was sticking out of his black suit.

'No, but I've always been good at winging it,' Lyra said calmly to Ike even though in her head she'd already ran away screaming.

Ike looked at her, arching and eyebrow before saying, 'Lyra, you are just as nervous as the rest of us, if not more so. Which I don't understand, because even if you stuff this people will still send to you in the games because you are a good fighter, the rest of us have way more to worry about.'

Lyra hesitated for a second, then relented, 'Yeah but the thing is unlike you, people don't like me, there is a reason why I have no friends back home.'

'Because you don't let people in a millimeter, but even then people like you, I like you, Mina likes you, Toby likes you and I can probably name half a dozen others,' Ike said calmly.

'What the heck are you talking about Ike? Toby hates me,' Lyra protested.

'No he doesn't, you've been so determined to hate him all this time that you've pushed him away with a cement truck, but the thing is he certainly likes you, in fact there might be a key reason why you two bicker like a married couple-'

Lyra swatted Ike over the back over the head, he'd known it was coming so he was prepared for it, but he certainly felt it had been worth saying, but that was when Xandra slid into the room and instantly asked, 'Whose your other alley?' Lyra looked awkward, and Xandra glared at her, 'You haven't asked yet?'

'No problem at all, Greg,' she said turning to the monstrous boy from eight, who was in a black and red suit, 'Alliance with me and the soon to be duct-taped Ike?'

He smirked and nodded and went back to aimlessly staring at the wall, but Ike was confused, 'I thought you were going to ask Astra and Orion to join us?'

'Well I was but then Seir got to him first, why do you think I punched him-' she began but suddenly a Capitol attendant suddenly grabbed her arm.

'Miss Franklin you're on in five seconds.'

'I am? My how time flies!' Lyra said to get out of the awkward situation.

And before Ike could stop her, Lyra scurried passed him, and that was when she heard Caesar's voice say, 'Well let's have another round of applause for Jinx, and welcome to the stage the next guest, all the way from District Seven, you all know her, Miss Lyrana Franklin.'

Lyra breathed deeply as the large screens moved aside for her, and as the crowd started cheering so loudly she thought she was going to be blown away by the sheer force of it, she stepped forward and walked into the waiting arms of the Capitol. Caesar was holding out a hand to her and she shook it, and then eventually managed to calm down enough to smile at him. He invited her to sit down with a gesture of his hand and being as careful as she possibly could with the multi-layered skirts, she took a seat.

'Now Lyrana how-'

Before she even processed the third word she cut him off and said, 'Please Caesar, call me Lyra. And trust me that's a warning, not a request.'

The audience laughed at her response and she felt her nerves drain, it was getting to a good start, Caesar smiled at her, 'Of course, now Lyra, why don't you tell us what you think of that dress, because you do look amazing.'

Lyra knew this was a time when she was supposed to start gushing about all this girly stuff, challenge accepted, 'Oh I just love it. Esperanza is such an _amazing _designer, I really don't know how he does it. But if he can make a girl like me feel like a princess, then he has a gift that no one can deny.'

That got a loud aww from the crowd and Caesar went to agree with her, 'He is indeed. Now why don't you tell us a bit about growing up in District Seven?'

Lyra didn't even think before she said, 'Which part? Do you want me to skim over my personal experience with it and describe the general populous, the constant splinters, the bad back you always have from carrying the humongous logs, the fact they dangerously make children scale humongous and thoroughly unstable trees or the miles and miles of deforested country side?...' realizing what she'd just said she then decided to add, '…Can you tell that I miss home?'

The entire crowd ruptured into a humongous fit of laughter, and Lyra slowly began to smile more truly; maybe this is why Xandra told her to be herself, Caesar seemed quite alarmed, 'Surely that's an exaggeration! It can't be that bad!'

'I'm not someone you should ask about the hidden beauty of District Seven, because when there is nothing but negative energy towards you, it's kind of hard to think of anything positive to do with that place,' Lyra said carefully remembering her entire District was watching her slander them, but then realizing what that meant she said looking straight into the camera, 'And to all the people back home, a) I regret nothing of what I've just said and b) the Capitol is certainly smarter then you because they haven't let me near a woodchipper.'

She winked straight into the camera and the audience started laughing again and Caesar clearly curious asked, 'Why would it be a bad idea to let you near a woodchipper?'

Lyra burst out laughing at that question, 'I thought you talked to the people back in my District, come on, they didn't tell you that I pushed the Mayor's son into one?'

'You pushed someone into a woodchipper?' he gaffed in surprise.

'Well is it my fault he's a pain in the ass?' Lyra asked curiously.

'But from what I've seen you get along quite well,' Caesar began.

'We can't spend twenty seconds in each other's company without getting into an argument that makes your little contest in the arena look like a walk in the park,' Lyra snorted.

'Oh really? Then what's happening here?' Caesar asked.

Instantly on the humongous televised screens an image of their hug on the reaping stage showed up and instantly Lyra felt a slight touch of colour bloom in her cheeks, 'He's a colossal ass-hat, but he has a conscious, now unless you want me to push you into a woodchipper, I suggest you move on and don't talk to me about the biggest of the many thorns in my side.'

'Is that the same reason you punched Orion?' Caesar asked.

'God no, I have many reasons for my violent tendencies, he wasn't so much an ass-hat as an egg-head,' she said calmly.

'There's a difference?'

'Yeah the ass-hat is stupid enough to argue with me even when he knows he can't win, the egg-head joined the career pack,' Lyra snorted.

'Isn't that expected of him though?'

'You'd think but no, not Orion, for god's sake, he spent all of training avoiding the careers as much as possible, the first day he spent most of the day with me and Astra, the next day Shimmer wouldn't let him leave her side, but after he _accidentally _flicked paint on her, he ended up back with Astra. And then he spent the rest of the third day with Belle, although we had a pretty damn good sparring match. Honestly the guy doesn't belong with them.'

Caesar looked extremely amused and then asked, 'You seem to know what goes on with the other tributes, would you happen to know who this crush Orion has is, because he certainly didn't want to tell us.'

Lyra then launched into a humongous coughing fit, but no one could fail to notice they sounded distinctly like the word, 'Ten.'

'Ten? Astra?'

'Who said that?' Lyra said looking around wildly, but her smirk only to obviously her amusement at what she had just said, but then her smirk only increased and then she commented, 'Well, now that you mention it,' she giggled.

The entire Capitol audience was leaning forward, Caesar was looking entertained and asked, 'Well?'

'If he doesn't suck it up and kiss that little darlin' soon I'm going to knock their heads together so hard it shatters their skulls if its necessary.'

The entire audience launched into blurts of laughter and Lyra grinned as the applause rose up for her, and Caesar grinned at her, 'Really?'

'Yes! She fell of the climbing frame on the roof the other day in training and he caught her, and then he didn't put her down for quite some time, in fact the moment he realized what it looked like, he kept holding her just to piss Shimmer off more. But honestly the moment I realized they belonged together was during the actual parade. Orion's a guy who really has issues cracking a smile, but the moment he saw Astra he lit up, he can't stop smiling when he gets around her, and I think that is the true testament of a not only a solid couple, but a match made in heaven.'

More laughter from the audience but Caesar then asked, 'Well as interesting as they are, I think we should do more talking about you. You got a very high training score, what is this I hear about you being very good with throwing things?'

Once again Lyra decided to wing it and instead of answering the question with a statement, answered it with another question, 'What did Kali tell you?' she asked accusingly.

'Kali? What would she have to tell us about you?'

'Admittedly throwing the knife at her may have been a little bit uncalled for but the axe on the other hand, that was completely justified!' Lyra insisted.

'You threw a knife and an axe at her?'

'You think that's bad, I didn't even hit her? I souped Seir the next day, that was painful unlike throwing things at Kali!'

'Souped? What do you mean by that?'

'I poured boiling hot french onion soup all over him,' Lyra said honestly.

Once again the audience burst out laughing and Lyra couldn't help but beam, 'Why did you do that?'

'He asked me to join the career pack, not gonna happen.'

There was more laughter but that was until Caesar's next question threw her off guard, 'What are you fighting to get back to?'

'The only thing I have to get back to do is to give Mina back her necklace, there is nothing for me in District Seven, simple as that,' she said her hand closing around the pendant.

'What? Not even your parents-'

At the word parents Lyra threw herself to her feet so hard that it knocked over the chair she was sitting on and without even thinking about what she was doing, she stormed straight off stage. The audience was dead quiet for a very long moment. And Lyra who had already got back stage could hear the soundlessness from where she was and she slumped back against the wall she had really done it now, but that was when she heard Caesar say something that got the entire audience on their feet applauding loudly.

'Now that's fire, ladies and gentleman, Lyra Franklin!'

The loud applause was almost deafening and it went on for quite some time and she eventually whispered to herself, 'My god... they actually like me.'

_Does anyone else agree that Lyra is awesome?_

**Me, but she does need to learn when to keep her mouth shut.**_  
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_Ah but if she learnt that she wouldn't be half as awesome. And isn't Astra so adorable in her little fairy dress?_

**Can you wait to let the people see her interview? She is so adorable!**_  
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_I know! She is so cute! And of course Orion is just being Orion._

**And don't you love Aurora! I mean who knew she was so nice?**_  
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_They're all so awesome! But Shimmer is so mean!_

**Yeah and I can't believe that Orion's joined the careers! Egg head! Lyra had every right to punch him!**

_Yeah she does! Grr stupid egg-head! _

_Well our dear readers, we pretty much have the next chapter ready so review for us and you'll have it in no time!_

_:) Ally_

**Review, review, review! One more chapter before the games begin!**_  
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**~Selina**


	16. Breaking Point

Chapter 16: Breaking point

Astra fidgeted nervously as she waited for her turn. If there was one thing she hated about being in District Ten it was how long you had to wait for your turn. She rested her hands on her skirt, wishing that the bodice on the dress wasn't quite as tight. She could still breathe but she wished that it was a little looser so she didn't feel as restricted.

'Now then Ladies and Gentlemen, our next Tribute, Astra Vee!' that was her cue.

She plastered a massive smile on her face and skipped onto the stage at once. She bounded up to Caesar, ignored the hand he offered her to shake and flung her arms around his neck in a tight hug. The audience at once started laughing as Caesar patted her back, a little awkwardly.

'Hi!' she chirped, before letting go of him, and they took their seats, although Astra continued to fidget, trying to figure out a good way to sit in the dress.

'So Astra, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself? What's it like being the youngest of eight kids?' Caesar asked her, stressing the eight part.

'It's seven actually.'

'Seven?'

'My oldest brother was in the games a few years ago,' Astra said cheerfully, although she didn't really like the question.

'Well what's it like being the youngest of seven?'

'Same as being the youngest of any family. Except that I have to hide from more people. But I love them all, even if they can get a little annoying. Especially Hayden and Hunter. But I love them lots,' she grinned at the audience and Caesar, then leaned forward in her seat, waiting for the next question.

'How about that training score? A seven? Give us a clue on your strengths, what can we be expecting from you during the games?'

'Probably a lot of screaming. And giggling. Oh and I think that I'm going to spend most of my time hiding. I like hiding! I always win hide and seek, except for the times that I start laughing. I can't be serious. It's really weird but when I try to be all serious I start laughing straight away because I think that it's really funny. Do you think that being serious is funny? No you shouldn't, because yo u have to ask lots of serious questions don't you and it wouldn't be good if you asked a serious question and then you started laughing. Have you ever done that before? Oh right, you're the one who's supposed to be asking questions, not me. Sorry.'

'That's alright. We like enthusiasm don't we folks?' the crowd cheered for a few seconds, 'Since you've gotten to the Capitol, what have you liked the most?'

'Um…the food! I love the deserts here. They are so yummy! If it wasn't for my escort I think that I would eat desert first.'

'Well, don't we all love desert?' Caesar smiled at her, 'anything else that's really caught your attention?'

Astra thought again, 'the elevators! I like the elevators. They are so much fun to ride in! And you can see the ground when you're going up. I mean, it would suck if you were scared of heights, but I'm not so it's all good. I like waving at people when we're going up in it, it's fun, although Druella gets mad at me.'

'Well I can't imagine anyone getting mad at you.'

'Oh no, people get mad at me all the time. They say that I'm irritating. I'm not irritating am I? Well I guess I can be because of how much I talk. Hey Caesar, I have a question for you.'

'Ask away.'

'Why is your hair red? And your eyes? It looks like you're bleeding. It's scary. Are you hurt or something?'

'No, no, I'm not hurt. It's called hair dye.'

'But still!You might have a cut but you wouldn't know about it because your hair is already red, so then you might bleed out, and then you would die! Actually, can I just check to make sure that you're not bleeding, because now I'm really scared that you are!'

Astra bounded to her feet at once, without waiting for an answer. Caesar was forced to sit there as she prodded through his hair, and the audience were all falling out of their seats they were laughing so hard.

'Okay, you're not hurt. But you might have been so we just have to check. Better safe than sorry!'

Caesar agreed with her, and they had to wait as the audience calmed down before continuing, 'So Astra, you're a very pretty girl. Is there by any chance a special boy back home waiting for you?'

'Nope, I scare them all off. They think I'm weird! But then again, everyone thinks that I'm weird. I think I'm weird! No, I have no special boys in my life, except for my brothers, but they're my brothers.'

'Well I'm sure that there must be someone out there for you. Actually, while we're on the topic, we've been hearing things today about a possible relationship between you and a "certain someone"…' the crowd started jittering when he looked at them pointedly, 'from District One. What can you tell us about that?'

Astra paused, actually speechless for the first time in her life, she didn't know what to say to that, 'Um…ah…I don't know. I don't know who we're talking about here? Who are we talking about?'

'Orion Ehra.'

'Ooh, him. I didn't know that there was anything going on. Is there?" she said, a little bit too fast to be convincing anyone and it didn't help that she was flushing slightly pink.

Caesar and the audience laughed at her facial expression, before Caesar continued, 'Well, I don't know about nothing. But only time will be the teller. Now, one more question, what do you miss most from home?'

'My family obviously. I love my family and they love me, even though I can annoy them sometimes. But they told me to try to win, so I said that I would!' Astra said, looking and sounding serious. Caesar nodded.

'Well I'm sure that there must be someone out there for you. Is there anything else you miss from home?'

'My pig!' Astra said, going back to bubbly in less than a second, 'his names Splotch, because he's all splotchy and he likes to roll around in mud. He's really, really little though, he was the runt of the litter, so I adopted him and now he's my pet! And I miss him a lot!;

'You adopted the pig?'

'Yeah, of course I did. I like taking him for walks. It's funny, because you see all the rich people with their dogs and then I come along with my pig and they all stare at me. Alec threatened to kill him once, when he ate his shoes, but he didn't. Which was good! Because if he had I would have been made at him.'

'I like the sound of this pig. But unfortunately that's all we have time for! Ladies and Gentlemen, a final round of applause for Astra Vee, our District Ten female tribute!' Caesar took her hand and pulled her too her feet, gesturing for her to bow, as the audience cheered and went pretty much wild. Some even stood up while they clapped. In fact, the cheering went on for a while; even when she had skipped off stage once more.

...

'I cannot believe you!" Shimmer shrieked as soon as they stepped out of the elevator, 'I told you to go along with me! But you didn't! You embarrassed me in front of the whole nation!'

'I don't think you needed any help from me to do that,' Orion said calmly.

Shimmer shrieked again, 'You pinned a tie to me! You made it look like I had a tail. Thank God for my ability to laugh things off…'

'You have an ability to laugh things off? How long have you had that for?'

'Oh you are so funny!' Shimmer hissed dangerously,

'I know.'

'And what about what that tramp from Seven said huh? What about that? Something about a match made in heaven? You don't seem to be denying that the same way you denied me!'

'She's not a tramp. Shimmer would you just calm down. It's not like she did anything illegal. You're just over-reacting…as usual,' he muttered said the last bit under his breath so she wouldn't hear, but it turned out that for once she was actually listening to something that he said.

'What did you say?' she asked, voice rising once again, 'I do NOT over-react.'

'What do you call this then? You're acting like a child.'

Shimmer said nothing to that, she didn't really have to, because just as the words had passed his mouth she punched him hard and square in the nose. He stumbled back, hands cupping his nose as blood started to drip down his face.

'A child, hm? Can a child do that?' she snapped, 'you are so lucky that I'm not allowed to kill you just yet.'

Things could have gotten nasty if Aurora and Jet hadn't entered the apartment then. It was quite a sight that they were greeted with, Shimmer standing there fuming and Orion cupping his nose in a vain attempt to stop the blood from getting everywhere, although some had already started to drip through his fingers.

'Shimmer, what is going on?' Aurora snapped, making her flinch slightly and look vaguely guilty. It seemed that even Shimmer didn't want to cross Aurora, 'Jet, I want you to take Shimmer out of here. Now. Do not argue!'

Looking totally whipped Jet complied and took Shimmers arm so he could lead her out. Aurora waited till the door had closed behind them before looking around at Orion.

'Take your hands away. Let me see,' she said softly. Orion moved his hands slightly so she could see the blood pooled in his palms and smeared across his face. More was still streaming from his nose and the second he moved his hands a few drops splattered onto his suit and then onto the ground, 'I think we should get you to the hospital ward. Come on.'

She led him back into the elevator and hit the button to take them down. Thankfully it was a very fast elevator and in about thirty seconds they were stepping out onto the plain white hospital floor. Orion was sure that it would have smelt strongly of cleaning fluids and antiseptic, but he couldn't know for sure because he couldn't breathe through his nose.

If it was possible the doctors were even creepier than the normal Capitol people. It didn't help that they were all wearing white uniforms and had masks dangling around their necks. They were greeted by a green skinned doctor, with a mass of tattoos and gems embedded in the skin of his face.

'Hello there, what may I do for you?'

'My tribute needs his nose fixing,' Aurora said coolly. The Doctor nodded and walked up, flexing his fingers inside his rubber gloves.

'Alright young man, let's see what the damage is,' he said in his over the top accent, 'Move your hands. There's a good boy.'

Orion once again moved his hands away from his face so his still bleeding nose could be seen. The Doctor tutted as he looked it over quickly before he smiled in what was supposed to be a reassuring manner but made him look even freakier than before.

'An easy fix. It's not broken, so this should be fixed in a jiffy. Just take a seat and keep your head tilted back for me. And keep your hands away just for a second would you? I'll be back in two ticks.'

He scurried away and once he had gone Aurora spoke, 'what happened? Why did she hit you?'

'She was just annoyed. Probably about du stupid interbiew,' Orion shrugged, doing his best to not sound nasally but failing miserably.

'Was this about the tie?'

'And what eber I said about us not being togeber, plus Lyra and I fink maybe eben Astra.'

'I see. I'll talk to her when we get back up. This was uncalled for,' Orion half smiled, but groaned when another drop of blood fell onto his shirt, Aurora smiled, 'and I'll give your apologies to Fabianna for the suit for you.'

'dank you.'

'Not a problem. You're lucky that Shimmer didn't break your nose. She knows how too.'

'I fink I'd raber she bwoke my nose. Dat way it wouldn't bleed so much,' as if to prove his point even more blood dribbled down onto his suit and he groaned.

'So you got punched by Lyra and by Shimmer. This is just not your day is it?' Aurora laughed, 'where is that doctor?'

'I'm sure I deserved it. Well, Lyra's. Actually I deserved Shibber's as well.'

'Shibber?'

'Shut up.'

...

Lyra was on the balcony again, simply staring down at the city below her, it was well past midnight now, but she just couldn't turn her brain off, she just couldn't shake the ominous feeling of peace about to be broken. Ike leaned against the doorframe, waiting a few moments to see if she would notice him so he wouldn't have to interrupt her thoughts, but when she didn't, he came up behind her and stood beside her, touching her shoulder lightly.

She jumped and whipped around to face him, her eyes almost fearful for a moment but she exhaled deeply and she said, 'Can't sleep either?'

He shook his head and then asked her, 'Lyra, tomorrow-'

'Please don't make me think about that, can't I have one last moment of peace?' she almost begged.

It was then he realized for the first time how afraid she truly was. The fear in her eyes was truly heartbreaking and she was almost in tears. But he still just didn't understand why. She was strong, she was capable, she was a fighter who's talent couldn't be denied. He'd never once seen her truly afraid, he knew any fear she'd had on the stand was because she hadn't processed it yet. The nerves she had before the interview wasn't fear, it was unease. For the past six days, she hadn't seemed to break or bend in the slightest, she wasn't afraid, but now suddenly she was.

She seemed to read his mind though and she just looked at him before whispering, 'Yes, I'm afraid, why is that so hard to believe?'

'Because you have a million times the chance to get out alive than half the kids in this building, including me, I don't understand-'

'You think that's the only reason I have to be afraid? Whether or whether not I get out? Yes I can fight and I will go down in a blazing fire, but the thing is unlike you, I haven't lived till this week, at least not properly! Before I could accept the likely hood I would die simply because I didn't know what anything else but the cold agony of living and I thought that possibly, just possibly, the endless darkness of death would be slightly better. But this week, I've started to care about someone other than myself, and you know what, it brought warmth into my life, something that I never had before! And I don't want to leave that warmth! Because it's the people here that makes me realize that I don't want to die at all, but the thing is if I don't die the only reasons that I want to live will be gone! If I come out of the arena, someone who deserved it way more than I did will be gone! I'm afraid of coming out! But I'm still afraid of not coming out! You have something to look forward to, you have a guiding light, you have a home! I don't! Because when it all comes down to it, I don't even know why I shouldn't just step off early at the platforms and let myself get blown up! Because I don't want any of the people that have brought happiness into my life to go! And I can't sit in the arena biding my time watching as the only things I care about get taken from this world! And the thing is because you've never been in my position, you've never had a day where there isn't something to be happy for, you can't possibly comprehend what I'm feeling right now! Do you know how close I've come to just ending it? A million times over I wondered if anyone would even care if I just disappeared from this world! Because truth be told until these games, no one would have! And now that people do care, it's making me feel even worse because as much as I don't want them to die, now that I know how good life can be I don't want to let it go and that feels so selfish that I feel like that alone is a good enough reason to die!'

The tears had completely overwhelmed Lyra and she dropped to her knees, openly crying for the first time. She shivered and wept, and her desperate gasps for air shook him to his very core, as she just grabbed at the ground desperate for something to keep her stable, or something she could break. A lump rose in his throat, and he felt like crying as well, because he had never entirely realized how fragile she truly was on the inside. He had said today that she never let people in a millimeter, and suddenly she was letting him in, and what he was seeing scared him because he finally saw why she was so strong. Because you couldn't break someone that had nothing. And now that she did... she couldn't let it go.

He did the only thing he could do; he pulled her into her arms, and held her tightly. It didn't stop her tears, in fact if anything it made her get that much more hopeless, and she cried harder than ever, and he realized this would have been the first time in years that she cried. When he'd been forced to watch her be whipped in front of the entire district, he couldn't remember her crying out or letting anyone see her pain for at least the last five years. He'd always admired her strength, and seeing as she'd never let anyone see her vulnerability, he hadn't been able to see her any other way... until now. They must have sat there as she cried for almost an hour, and after that she was so weak she fell asleep for another half hour, he didn't wake her though, he didn't want to see her break again, but eventually she woke up and looked up at him with sapphire eyes still swimming with tears.

'Ike...' she whispered.

He just looked at her, not smiling, not frowning, just ready to listen to whatever he had to say before eventually she said, 'Tell me what it's like.'

'Tell you what what's like?' he asked quietly.

'To have a family,' she whispered, 'A true family.'

He was thorn off guard by her request, but he didn't want to rob her of her wish so he nodded and began speaking, 'Family is something you can never control, because no matter how much they get under your skin, you are never going to be separate from them. But you always know that they are going to be there for you, no matter what. Even when everyone else in the world abandons you, you still have family. The reason we say blood is thicker than water, it took this for me to realize that it's a bond our soul makes with there's before we even enter this world, nothing can break that bond.'

She almost sounded like a child when she asked, 'If that bond is still there then why do my mum and dad hate me?'

He'd never heard her refer to them other than her parents, occasionally mother or father, the words mum and dad seemed so much more personal, and as she looked up at him he said quietly, 'Life, that gets in the way, but the bond never snaps, even with death. You can't make yourself not care, and that is why the bond never breaks.'

'But- I hate them-'

'Hate means there is still a part of that cares, and no matter what you do. You still lived in the house with them rather than going to orphans house, you still kept them alive by feeding them and giving them water, you care no matter how much you hate them,' Lyra was oddly silent but he continued, 'Family also comes with regrets despite happiness. There are so many things that I wish I told my family, that I never did, and I'm living with that now, and as far as it goes in this place you might be lucky to not have a particularly good family, you have no regrets.'

Lyra looked up at him once again seeming almost childlike, 'What regrets do you have?'

'I have three little sisters, triplets, five years old, who's going to be there to chase off the bad boys and the guys who don't deserve them ten years down the track if I go? They're not going to have much to remember me by, I wish I'd given them something, something so I'd even in my death they'd always remember me. I don't want them to forget me. I wish I'd said a better goodbye to my parents, I was so busy trying to hold it together that I don't think I made it clear how grateful I was for all they've done for me. And Marina... she's as much as part of my family as anyone could get... and yet even knowing I was probably going to die within two weeks, I still didn't have the guts to tell her that I love her, plain and simple, I certainly do. But there is no point now, I can't say any of that to them.'

Lyra sat up properly looking at him unblinkingly, 'Then I will.'

'Excuse me?'

'If you die, not only will I _never _forgive the person who did it, I'll take care of your family, I'd win for you Ike. If the Games is going to take you out of the world, then they're going to have to deal with me as a victor. I'll let your family know what you wanted to tell them, but I have a feeling you haven't realized something.'

'What?'

'Sometimes you don't have to tell people things for them to know that it's true. Your sisters, your parents, your girlfriend, all of them know how much you care and how much you wish you were there with them. And if that bond you believe in is true, even if you die you'll be still bonded to them and them to you.'

She gave him one last hug, and pulled herself to her feet, helping him to his feet as well, and kissed him on the temple, 'Thank you Ike…' she whispered, 'I'll see you in the morning… take as much peace as you can in.'

'Because all hell is going to break loose?' he asked despite his better judgment.

But to his surprise, she didn't hit him, she nodded simply, 'Yes, yes it is.'

And with a simple, sad smile, she turned on her heel and walked back inside.

...

Orion perched on the edge of his bed gazing out of the window. The lights of the city were still blazing and he could hear the shouts of people in the square not far away as they no doubt placed bets in preparation for tomorrow. He sighed deeply as he rested his head in his hands.

Tomorrow the games would begin. In the morning the tributes would be collected and taken via hovercraft to the arena, which would become their home until they either perished or, for that one lucky person, got out. Shimmer was still up and talking to Jet but Orion had excused himself early so he could get cleaned up before going to sleep. He was dreading tomorrow more than anything. He didn't want to be part of the careers alliance, but he knew that it was just a temporary thing. He didn't plan to stay with them for very long at all.

After a little longer of pointless staring he stood and pulled back the sheets of his bed, only to find an envelope fall to the floor. He frowned and stooped to pick it up, turning it over his in hands. It was quite good quality, not the type you would find in the Capitol, but it was obviously someone with money. He flipped it over so he could see who it was addressed to and was surprised to see his name on the front. He instantly thought of Astra but the hand writing didn't match. And it couldn't have been Lyra.

Frowning, he opened it and pulled out the folded piece of paper that was stuffed inside. It, like the envelope, was quite good quality paper. He unfolded it and started to read the words which had been scrawled on, as if the person writing it had been in a hurry.

_Orion-_

_I saw you in the interviews and I know it must seem like a strange request coming from me of all people, I know little of you and I doubt you know very much of me either. But you seem like the sort of person who not only could fix my problem but actually would. My name is Toby, I'm from District Seven, and I hate the games with a passion, Lyra talked about me in the interview and maybe she might have mentioned me a few times otherwise, I'm not really sure, I've never quite been able to understand her. You see, as much as Lyra hates me and as much as I'm supposed to hate her, I mean she's pushed me into a woodchipper she's broken my nose six times, my jaw twice and broke my knee as well and nearly crippled me permanently, but despite that, and despite the complete illogical nature of it, I don't hate her, not at all. When I went to talk to her after she was reaped, I had a very important thing that I wanted to say to her, but she just wouldn't let me get the words out, and even now she doesn't even know because even though I tried to get in contact with her, I have no doubt that she'd burn any message I sent to her. The truth is, I love her, I'm not sure how but I certainly do. And I know that it is strange that I'm telling you this, but even more than I want her to return my affections, is my desire for her to be safe. I know that the Games is crazy and brutal, and only one gets out alive, I'm just asking, well more like begging you, to do what you can to protect her. I know it's not like you can die in her place, I'm not asking you to do that it's just... without her I'm not sure what to do at all, even being away from her now is painful, just help her when you can, please. I wish you all the luck in the world in the events that shall unfold tomorrow, and please, please, look after her._

_-Toby_

Orion read and re-read the letter several times just to make sure that he completely understood it. Lyra had mentioned Toby; he remembered her saying that she had broken his nose. But he had never expected anything like this. He wondered for a brief second about how Toby would have gotten a letter to the Capitol for him, but he shrugged it off as he thought about what was actually in the letter.

It was certainly very odd for a person from one of the outlying Districts to ask someone from District One for help, especially if they had no idea who they were actually talking to. This Toby must have been very desperate if he was prepared to do something like this. That led him onto the request that Toby had made. Protect Lyra was basically his key point. Orion could pretty much feel his heart go out to the boy, who was obviously very desperate for her to come home so he could say what he wanted to say. Would Orion try to protect her? Yes, yes he would. He considered Lyra to be a friend, even though he had only known her for the grand total of three days, so he would gladly do all that he could to protect her. It was just the question of how? How could he do that? He could ally himself with her, that would mean that he would be close to her most of the time, which would mean that he would be able to step in and protect her easily. But there was also a flaw with that idea, because even if he was in an alliance with her then he wouldn't be able to be there every second and he wouldn't know what was going on outside with other groups. His main problem here was the fact that Seir, Kali and Shimmer were all after Lyra's blood.

Then it hit him. He didn't like it, not in the slightest. But it worked. If the careers were the ones that wanted to take out Lyra the most then it made the most sense for him to be part of that team. That way he would know their plans and when and who they were going to attack. If he was with the careers he would have an influence on who they went after. It worked out perfectly. The only downside was, it meant that he couldn't split from the careers after a few days like he had intended. No, if he was to protect Lyra like Toby had asked him to, then he was now officially part of the career pack, whether he liked it or not. But, even though he had no way of telling Toby, he had made a promise now, and Orion was one of those people that never broke any promise that he made.

...

Joel was up late still scribbling down notes in his little book, although they were now mostly on ways he could possibly get more sponsors for his tributes. Both of them had done well in their interviews so if he could just find something in those to play on then he would have no trouble.

He was in the process of chewing the end of his pen when he realized that he was no longer alone in the room. He turned in his chair so he could see the person standing in the doorway. Astra, dressed in a singlet and tracksuit, with her hair fluffy, evidence of someone who had been tossing and turning for a while, looked back at him and shrugged sheepishly.

'I'm guessing you can't sleep?' Joel asked. Astra nodded and Joel patted the seat beside him, 'do you want to talk about it?'

Astra padded over and sat beside him, although she remained perched on the edge of the seat. Joel tossed aside his notepad and pen and gave her his full attention.

'Now, what's got you wound up?'

'I'm scared,' was all she said in a quiet voice, 'we're going into the arena tomorrow.'

'I know, but seriously Astra, why are you worried. You're going to be fine.'

'But the thing is I'm not,' Astra suddenly said, 'I'm not going to be fine. Hell, I'm going to be the first one to die.'

'Okay honey what's brought on the sudden self-doubt? You're usually so confident-'

'But Joel, I'm not confident. As a matter of fact I have a really low self-esteem. I just hide behind a wall of happiness so it doesn't show. You all think that I'm really happy because I'm incapable of seeing bad things but I don't act happy all the time because I don't see the bad side, I act happy because I'm too scared to face the bad stuff,' Astra let out a small humorless laugh, 'I'm not intelligent, heck I fail pretty much all my tests, I'm not athletic, I'm not really very pretty either. I have nothing at all that any sponsor would be interested in. When the gong sounds tomorrow morning I'm going to be the first to go, simply because of what I am. I'm nothing more than a scared, stupid kid, who jumps when something goes bump and who starts crying when they stub their toe. Joel that's what I am. I'm not potential victor material at all and everyone knows that. I know that I'm not going to win so I see almost no point in fighting. But at the same time I don't want to die. I want to go home and see my family again. I want to see my friends again. But when I say that I don't know which friends I mean. I've met some incredible people here, people who don't just tolerate me, but accept me for who I am. And they could and probably will die. I don't, I can't hate, but this place, these games, everything, has changed that…I hate it. I hate it all. I hate the games, I hate this situation, and I hate feeling like this.'

Joel could only watch as she ranted. About part way through her rant she had stood up and started pacing. She wasn't crying or anything, she just sounded upset, a side that Joel had never before seen of her. He had come to know her as a happy and very confident young woman, who was constantly living on a cloud far above the troubles of the world. But it seemed that something had brought her crashing down and she was now realising the full weight of the situation. But he had never expected this from her.

'I know that I have something to fight for. I know that my family will be watching these, hoping, praying, that I'm going to come out. But there are twenty-three other families out there all thinking the exact same thing, "I hope it's my kid that comes out," and twenty-three families will come away having lost someone dear to them. I don't want that to be my family. They've already lost one child; they don't need to lose another. But I don't think that I can pull through this. I know that I'm going to die, and it may be because of the fact that I'm too weak to kill another human being. That's the rule of these games isn't it? Kill or be killed. I can't kill, I won't kill. Because I'm too weak to do it. My fate in these games is pretty much sealed, and it isn't going to be me coming out as a glorious victor,' it seemed as if she had finished.

She turned to Joel and sighed deeply. There were no tears still, she didn't even look sad. She just looked accepting, worn, and her eyes were dull, as if someone had flicked a switch, plunging her world into darkness.

'Astra, I don't know what to say that will make you feel better. I highly doubt that anything will. But know that I went into my games feeling pretty much the same. And I'm sure everyone does. But the important thing for you to understand is that you're not weak. You're not stupid or anything like that. You say that you're too weak to kill a human, but that's not weak in the slightest. That's true strength. You have more to you than you give yourself credit for,' Joel bent down so he could look her straight in the eyes, 'I wouldn't say this if I didn't mean it. Astra, I believe that you can get out of here. I believe that you have enough potential and skill to get through. You just have to believe that yourself.'

Astra looked down at the floor and sighed again. Then the corner of her mouth twitched into a tiny smile. Joel smirked.

'That's it. There's the Astra I know. Smile a bit more.'

She did. It wasn't her usual beam, which could literally light up a room. It was small and uncertain, but a tiny bit of light was coming back into her eyes again.

'Tomorrow when the gong sounds you aren't going to be the first to go. No, it won't be you. During these games just think about what you're trying to get back to. And keep on thinking about it. I have no doubts that you'll be able to get through.'

'At least someone thinks that.'

'I'm sure many people are thinking it.'

Astra smiled a bit wider, she was starting to look more like herself, until she suddenly sobered, and 'I just remembered something. I can't die tomorrow.'

'Why not?'

'Because tomorrow's my birthday. I can't die on my birthday! That's just not right.'

'So I'm going to hazard a guess and say that you aren't going to be the first to die?'

'You can bet your eye patch that I'm not!'

**Now that is a phrase that is bound to catch on.**

_The chapter is so sad! I just want to hug them all!_

**I know I was tearing up while writing!**

_As was I. Except for Astra's interview! That was fun!_

**Yeah that was fun! Our little fairy sure did win their hearts! And Orion getting punched was fun as heck!**

_Oh yeah! The poor guy can't catch a break can he?_

**Na, but as angry as we are for him for joining the career pack, he now has a better reason to stay. It's so strange for Lyra to insist there is no one in the world outside the games that cares for her, and she never realized that there was someone there all along.**

_It's so sweet! Hey Selina, we're in the Arena next chapter! Should they all be excited?_

**I think they should be indeed, we will get the next chapter to you guys sometime next week! Readers, how daring do you think we are? Who do you think will die in the bloodbath and how many?**

_Yes we shall! Who are we going to kill off first? That is the question. So please dear readers review.  
>:) Ally<em>

**Review! Review! Review!**

**~Selina**


	17. First Blood

**It's time, it's time, it's time! It's time for the arena to begin!**

_I'm so excited for this. But before we get into the arena we must first have a few touching moments. _

**It's so sad to think about it, these poor souls marching off to battle, none but one shall return.**

_*Sniffles* It's so depressing! Why must they all die?_

**...Because it's the Hunger Games, and President Snow is a jerk? Before we go to the chapter, we must thank our reviewers. To Hunger Games Luver, we thank you for your double review, and we hope this is up to scratch. Ciaramarie96 you are positively the nicest reviewer we have ever had, and we really hope this loves up to your standards. CuriosityBebz, well we can't promise anything, but we're glad you love Astra and Lyra. Loopy, we love your reviews as always, and its always something special to hear that we made someone cry. Guest, we've been recently discussing the mirror images between Annie and Astra, lets just hope Astra can get out as well but who knows what will happen except for Ally and I? Wetstar, we're here now, we just hope it didn't take to long. T. C. Bahn-Zaine, glad to hear you're psyched. And we hope it does justice to what you've been picturing. Anything to add Ally?**

_Thank you so much, all of you! We are so glad that you like our story and our characters! It's really fantastic to get your reviews._

**And now, it's time! Time for the arena! Who shall live, who shall die? Now it shall begin. *insert dramatic music here***

_Well, actually, the goodbyes are first so we should have a little bit of sad music at the start and then… insert dramatic music here, plus a few lightning bolts for added effect!_

The morning had only just started to turn from black to grey when Aurora was shaking Orion's shoulder, urging him to get up.

"Come on, it's nearly time to go," she said gently as he groaned and tried to pull the covers back over his head. He had probably only gotten about three hours sleep that night, despite going to bed early. His mind had just been too active, either he was coming up with plans to escape the arena or he was imaging waking nightmares. These had successfully managed to leave him lying awake for almost the whole night, "come on Orion, get up,"

"But I don't want to," he mumbled, cuddling tighter into to sheets.

Aurora sighed, then grabbed hold of the mattress and tipped him off onto the floor. Orion let out a slight yelp as he rolled onto the hard floor.

"Orion, now please."

All Orion did was grab hold of the sheets that had fallen off the bed with him and curled up again. Aurora nearly groaned in frustration as she crossed round the bed to stand next to him. She nudged him with her foot and he batted her away.

"Orion Ehra, you get up this instant or I'm going to call in Jet!"

That got a very good reaction because at once Orion was scrambling up and untangling himself from the sheets. Aurora smirked as she watched him, before tossing him an armful of clothes.

"Get dressed. We're due up on the roof in three minutes, and I don't want to be late!"

…

The roof was dead silent, no one was talking, no one dared. Not even the careers dared taunt the other tributes of the deaths that would soon take place, part of them, no matter how small, was scared as well. District One was the last to reach the roof, it had taken so long to get Orion out of bed, that they were almost ten minutes late.

Now that he was here everyone started going onto the plane, the twins from Twelve received their injections at the foot of the hovercraft before filing in, gripping each other's hands for comfort. The next to enter were the pair from five, shortly followed by four, two, and Shimmer. Basil and Farrow spent some time fussing over the needle, but they too entered the plane, shortly followed by Greg. The rest didn't move forward however, they didn't want to go.

It was Lyra and Astra who eventually stopped the motionlessness by going around to those remaining outside, and giving them one last hug. Lyra was almost teary as she embraced Chance, and Astra didn't seem to want to let Horace go. Orion was forced to watch as one by one, the innocents filed passed him, having received their hugs they walked straight passed him, received their injections, and went onto the plane. The only one who stopped to say goodbye to him was little Belle, who hugged him tightly around the waist.

She whispered to him quietly, 'Bye Orion,' so faintly that he could barely hear her, but that didn't stop him going down on his knees so he'd be at a better height, and hugging her in return.

Belle gave him a sad little wave and squeaked slightly as the tracker needle went into her arm. And as the rest of them filed passed him, he suddenly found it was just him, Lyra and Astra outside the hover craft. Astra slowly walked up to the Capitol attendant, and looked absolutely terrified as the needle moved towards her arm, she squeaked and pulled it away.

"Dear, you have to get your needle-"

"No I don't! I don't want to-!'

She cut off suddenly and completely relaxed as Orion put a hand on her shoulder, she took the needle without complaining, but she didn't go onto the plane, she just stared at him. Lyra walked up to get hers, but was too busy looking at Astra and Orion, and them at her. None of them to this day was entirely sure who started the hug, but next thing they knew they were wrapped in each other's arms, in a group hug.

The Capitol attendant cleared her throat briskly, but Lyra promptly told her, "Shut your pie-hole."

"Pie?"

"Sweetie," Lyra said patiently.

"Oh right… sorry…"

"Don't be," Lyra said who oddly sounded like she was holding back tears, before forcing them into an even tighter hug.

The three stood there for one last moment, none of them wanted to let go. Somehow they all found themselves on the plane as it took off, but they were sitting in adjoining seats, still gripping each other's hands.

…

"Why is this room so boring? I mean really, would it kill them to decorate it slightly? Fanta, you're a stylist, can't you decorate it?" Astra asked as Phanka helped her into her coat.

The small blonde girl hadn't really stopped talking since she had gotten into the room, but Phanka wasn't enforcing the usual 'shut up' that he mostly did. He was just ignoring her mostly, occasionally muttering things like, 'that's nice' and 'really?' just to make it seem like was listening. Not that Astra cared if he was or wasn't, she was just talking to keep her mind off what was going on.

"The arena is going to be cold this year," Phanka said as he did up her coat.

"What gave it away? The thermal underwear?"

"Something like that. I must admit that this outfit suits you. You should dress like this more often."

"Naw, thank you Fanta! And here I was thinking that you were just a grumpy old man," Astra grinned at him, although the grin didn't quite meet her eyes, only revealing just how scared she was.

"Oh I almost forgot, I have something for you!" Phanka suddenly said, making Astra look at him curiously.

"What?"

"I heard from Joel that you're turning sixteen today, so I brought this along for you," Phanka held up a pink cupcake, which was decorated with little chocolate flowers and sprinkles.

"Oh my Gosh! Thank you Phanka!" Astra squealed and hugged her stylist, actually using his real name for once.

He squawked indignantly and tried to push her off, muttering something about shoes and being careful of his shirt. At last she let him go and stepped back admiring her cupcake happily.

"You'll have to eat it now dearie, you'll be going in in a minute," Phanka said, brushing off his shirt, as if she had possible contaminated it with her hug.

Astra's smile dropped when she realised that she didn't have much longer and her stomach did a little flip, in fact she was so nervous she didn't think that she could eat her little cake. She twisted the little charm bracelet on her wrist, looking at the tube which would take her up to the arena in terror, knowing what was about to come.

"Fanta I'm scared," she whispered as she took a little nibble, "What if I die?"

"Oh come now darling, that's no way to think."

"But I could die! I really could! I don't want to die on my birthday!"

"Then you'll just have to make sure you get away from the blood bath then won't you dear?"

Astra had just finished her little cupcake when they heard the tinny voice echo from the speakers,

"Thirty seconds."

Astra squeaked in terror as Phanka tried to lead her over to the tube, "I don't want to go! Please don't make me go!"

After a lot of coaxing and a bit of shoving Phanka managed to get her in, just as the announcement for Ten Seconds echoed through the room. The glass door slid shut and Astra pressed her hands to it, willing it to open. But seeing as it wouldn't she took a deep breath and started to think about something to take her mind off what was going on.

"Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me…" she sung even as the plate rose and she was lifted up into the dazzling cold sunlight of the arena.

…

Lyra looked at Esperanza as he pulled her hair out of her eyes, pinning it back into a bun, but leaving a stray curl on each side, and he gave her a small smile, 'You know usually my tributes by this time are having a mental breakdown,' he said quietly.

'I'm ahead of schedule, I had mine at about one in the morning,' she said quietly giving Esperanza the best smile she could manage when she was sick to her stomach.

He kissed her brow, 'I'm sorry to hear that, are you alright now?' he asked quietly.

'Ike helped me, but… I haven't cried in nearly seven years until that night,' Lyra whispered.

Esperanza looked at her in surprise, before pulling her into a tight embrace, and he could feel Lyra crying slightly into his shoulder but only slightly. But he knew that she was ready, or at least as ready as she was going to get. And she wouldn't be alone, Ike and Greg would look after her, he trusted Ike would be able to keep her safe and stable, he knew little of Greg, but if Lyra trusted him, then he certainly did. He trusted her judgment.

'One minute.'

The computerized voice came over the loudspeaker and Lyra looked at him fearfully. And he realized how much he didn't want to let her go, he pulled her back into his arms, for one last hug, kissing the top of her head, his own tears beginning. Lyra in the week he'd known her, had become like a daughter to him, and he just couldn't stand the idea she might not come back to him. He would be watching every minute, he had to know she was okay.

'Thirty seconds.'

She stared at him and got slowly to her feet from where she'd been sitting on the table. And for a long moment he stared at her, trying to memorize her for what might be the last time he saw her alive. The Capitol's choice of outfit was simple, but it suited her all the same, a thick white hooded jumper with thermal technology built into it to keep her warm at night, a thick green shirt and white pants. Her boots were uniform, they all had the same ones, thick black boots that he just hoped were thick enough to stop her getting frostbite, the arena was never quite warm enough unless they used a desert, and from the way she'd been dressed, it wasn't a likely option. Her face had gone pale in the fear, but her cheeks were flushed, and a gleam of determination lit her eyes. Her hand which he had fitted with fingerless gloves to allow her to still be able to wield a knife and also give her hands some protection, closed over the diamond pendant around her neck.

'Be a diamond Lyra, be a diamond,' he told her and kissed her forehead one last time.

'Twenty seconds.'

'I'll miss you Esperanza,' she whispered.

'Nineteen.'

'Then make sure you see me again,' he said and he gestured towards the pod.

'Eighteen, seventeen, sixteen.'

She walked slowly towards the pod, and stepped on the platform as the count continued to ring out, 'Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen.'

As the voice said twelve the doors slid closed she blew Esperanza a kiss and then looked up as she disappeared into the arena above her, 'Twelve, eleven, ten.'

Esperanza leaned back, closing his eyes, waiting as he heard the count continue, 'Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one...'

That was it he thought to himself, he may never see Lyra again, and he whispered, his heart positively breaking as he went to go find a television, 'Be safe… Lyra… stay strong my daughter...'

…

Orion stepped in through the heavy metal door into the plain tiled room. It was dimly lit with cold florescent lighting, which reflected off the pale tiles. Standing in the middle pulling clothes out of a small box was Fabianna. She looked up at him and grinned.

"There he is. The champion. Come, come, come dear, let's get you dressed," she beckoned for him to come over. Orion wanted to groan and roll his eyes but he just didn't have the will power any more. He could feel his heart speeding up already and his stomach was swimming so much he didn't feel like he could hold down any food.

He allowed Fabianna to help him into the clothes without complaint, ignoring as she wittered on. It was a simple outfit really, a black thermal shirt, elasticated thermal white trousers, thick black boots, fluffy black gloves and a thick, thermal white jacket, which had the District One symbol embroidered onto the breast pocket. Fabianna zipped it up, dusted it off and smoothed down the fabric before stepping back and studying him.

"Not bad really. I've seen worse at least," she tapped her lips, "move around for me. Make sure it's comfortable."

He did although he barely knew what he was doing; he was too busy trying to stop himself from hyperventilating. This was it. He was about to go into the arena. The past few days seemed to have passed really slowly, in fact there times that it had seemed that this day would never come. But now it was here, and he couldn't lie any longer and say that he wasn't scared. He hoped that this was all a bad dream and he would wake up back at home in District One, safe and sound, not about to go into the arena about to die.

"Now then. Are you excited? I'm excited," Fabianna chirped. Orion just looked at her blankly, and she frowned, "Honey are you okay? You look as if you've been crying."

Orion instantly protested, "I haven't. I just didn't sleep well last night."

"Were you too excited or something? I know I didn't sleep well either I was looking forward to today so much."

"No, I didn't sleep because I'm nervous."

"Well why are you nervous?"

"Because I'm probably about to die!" Orion snapped. Fabianna looked shocked at his sudden outburst but had no time to contemplate it because an animated voice suddenly rang through the room.

"Thirty seconds,"

Orion felt his stomach flip and he could literally feel himself trembling as Fabianna led him over to the plate.

"Head high," she instructed, "come on honey please. You're District One! You can't look scared."

Orion didn't glare at her like he usually would, by now he was fighting a losing battle to keep his face half-way calm, to not show just how scared he was. No matter how much he pretended that he was practically emotionless, there was only so much that he could bare. He was after all only a human, and only a child at that.

"Ten seconds." The voice spoke again and Fabianna stepped back as the door to the plate slide closed, sealing him in.

'Good Luck.' She mouthed and flashed him a thumbs up. The plate he was standing on started to rise slowly. As it did so he fought desperately to smooth his face, to make himself appear calm and cool, unaffected by what was going on, just as light filled the tube and a cold breeze caught his hair.

This was it. The arena.

…

Frost. Everywhere, there was frost. On the grass, in the trees, on the packs, everywhere. One first glance all you could see was tress. Miles and miles of trees. In the far eastern horizon a tall, snow tipped mountain could be seen. The cold sun sparkled off the frost, it would almost have been magical, if it was anywhere else but the arena. A river could be heard rushing powerfully in the beyond. And there was a thin layer of mist surrounding them that made everything seem that much more mysterious, that much more uncertain.

The tributes were standing in a semi-circle on their platforms, watching, waiting. It was clear from the mere looks on their faces who and who was not ready for this. Some, like Iris, Horace and Charix were terrified, so severely terrified that they were shaking and quivering on their platforms. Others, like Ike, Basil, Cady and Sparky, seemed to be in shock; frozen as they stared around at the icy cold arena that they now realised would be their grave. There were some that were smirking, the sadistic ones like the rest of the Career pack and Greg, who were obviously thinking about what was to come, the blood that was soon to be spilt upon the pure white snow. The rest were simply standing, breathing, trying to remain calm and absorb all that was around them, trying to prepare themselves for what was to come, in less than a minute.

And even as they looked around the clock had already reached the number ten. Ten seconds till the games began and for some people ten seconds left to live.

Ten.

You could already see that Seir was all too eager for this. He was on the edge of his platform, ready to take off at any second.

Nine.

The careers were exchanging evil glances with each other, but Orion simply looked awkward.

Eight.

Astra had finally stopped singing as she watched the rapidly descending clock.

Seven.

Lyra took a deep breath, glanced at Ike and cracked her knuckles.

Six.

Orion could feel as his muscles coiled and tensed, ready to run.

Five.

Lyra was scanning the packs, looking for her knives. She would not let Kali beat her to them.

Four.

Astra was staring at the ground, as if longing for it to open and swallow her up.

Three.

Orion looked up to see both Astra and Lyra staring at him, before they glanced at each other then back at him. All he could do was nod.

Two.

The tension that was mounting was getting to be unbearable. You could almost feel it getting ready to snap.

One.

This was it!

Zero.

Then all hell broke loose.

Orion was off the platforms first. In fact he was off so fast that for a fleeting second he thought that the mines might not have been properly disarmed and he would be blown sky high. He could see his katana hanging from the side of the Cornucopia and he made a beeline for them.

But even as Orion sped towards his weapon Seir had already gotten his hands on one of his. Cady had only just managed to stumble away from her platform, still in shock, when Seir sped forward and in one fluid movement cleaved her head straight from her shoulders and the first blood of the games sprinkled the snow. Barely five meters away her twin had witnessed the whole thing, and could only watch as her now headless corpse crumbled to the floor.

During all of this Lyra had also shot from her platform, and even as Kali reached for the leather pouch of throwing knives, Lyra launched into a skid on her stomach and not only managed to grab the pouch, knocked Kali off her feet. And before Kali could fight for her weapons, Lyra had already danced off, scooping up packs, jumping over the other tributes and before anyone could try to injure her or stop her, she had already reached the edge of the bloodbath, cartwheeled over Botis who was simply walking towards the packs, and barely even noticed her using his shoulders as a springboard. And chucking a few of the near dozen packs she'd snitched to Greg and a large coil of rope to Ike, the three bolted to the west, leaving completely unharmed, no one even appearing to notice them leaving the scene.

About fifteen meters away from where Seir had just made his first kill Astra had just jumped from her platform. She was looking from side to side in confusion and shock, unsure of where to run, what to do. She had obviously seen Cady's death and her breathing had sped up in horror, and she all but froze in shock until she noticed Seir looking right at her, holding the bloody axe to his side. She let out a tiny 'eep' of fright and shot away in the opposite direction.

For a few moments Seir considered chasing after the little blonde girl, but he decided against it. Instead he scanned around and selected his next target. A small brunette girl, who was curled in tight ball on her platform, weeping and whimpering. He moved so he could stand before her, watching as she cried. And even as he stood there, he could have sworn that she whimpered something along the lines of 'I want to go home,' not even seeing to realise that he was there. But soon she sensed that she was no longer alone and she slowly looked up to see who it was. Chance let out a small squeak of fear when she saw, but that was the last sound she ever made, before Seir once again swung his axe and her head was severed from her body. Blood sprayed out, wetting the ground and the cold steel platform.

Belle had been one of the smarter ones. When the gong had sounded and the countdown had ended she had run as fast as she could off her plate. She had seen a pack on the outskirts of the Cornucopia, in the opposite direction to the Careers and she had gone for it, intent on picking it up and running away. But she never got as far as running away. Just as her fingers closed around the handle of the pack she heard Jinx cry out behind her.

"Belle! Look out!"

Acting on human instinct she spun around...only to have a knife imbed itself in her left eye. She let out a pained squeal as she crumpled to the ground. Kali, who by this stage had gotten her hands on another set of knives, strode up to Belle's crumpled form and, barely breaking her stride, bent down and tore the knife out, before continuing over to stand with her district partner.

Jinx felt his blood boil with rage and hate as Kali tore the knife from Belle's body. He wanted more than anything, to just tackle the girl from District Two and break her neck. But as enraged as he was he still managed to think. He knew that attempting to take out Kali would be suicide; she could take him out with a knife before he made it within ten meters. But he still wanted revenge. No, he didn't want it, he needed it. He considered maybe going after either Shimmer or Lilith but, much like Kali, they could take him out with their weapons before he even got close. He then looked over at Botis; the monstrous boy was pretty much casually striding through the packs, occasionally picking one up and looking through it, before obviously dubbing it as useless and chucking it over his shoulder and starting on the next pack. He wasn't paying any attention to what was going on behind him and for good reason, as no one it seemed wanted to take on the towering giant of a boy. Then of course there was Seir, but all Jinx needed to put him off him, was the fact that he was holding Chance's head by its plates and laughing alongside Kali, his bloody axe hefted over one shoulder casually. That left one career, who was currently in the process of asking Nakita if she wanted to do 'rock, paper, scissors,' to see who got the katana which were hanging from the side of the Cornucopia.

Orion glanced at Nakita, who was watching him nervously. Both of them had skidded to a stop at the katana at the same time and now it was a case of who was more desperate to have them. Nakita it seemed was obviously preparing herself to fight him but Orion was not in a fighting mood, and he wasn't in a killing mood either.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" he asked, "best out of three?"

Nakita looked at him for a few moments, then at the katana, then back at him, before suddenly bolting in the direction of the woods, scooping up a single curved blade as she ran. Orion watched her go in confusion, but he didn't stop to ponder as he removed the katana from the hook that they were hanging from. But even as he strapped the case to his back he was slammed into from behind and practically thrown to the frosty ground. His fighting instincts kicked into play at once and he had barely hit the ground before he was rolling onto his back and attempting to regain his feet. He never even made it to his knees before Jinx slammed into him again, pinning him back to the ground, hands locked around his throat, in an attempt to choke him. But Orion was not going to go down that easily.

"I always…knew…you didn't…like me," he gasped out, then suddenly tucked a shoulder and rolled so he was the one pinning Jinx to the ground.

"This all your fault. Yours and your stupid Career pack," Jinx suddenly hissed. Orion frowned and titled his head to the side in a questioning manner.

"What are you talking about?"

"Belle!" was all Jinx said. Orion's stomach dropped in horror, because he understood what Jinx meant. He instantly looked up and scanned the area around him rapidly, "This is all your fault. Belle's dead because of you,"

"Wait, what?" Orion demanded. He was going to continue and ask how she died but he never got the chance. Jinx, seizing the moment of distraction lashed out with his fist, punching Orion hard in the jaw, knocking him to the ground.

Cole, not too far away, was in grieving. Cady was dead. The only person on the planet, who he had cared about, who he had loved, was gone. He no longer cared about himself getting out. No, the only thing that Cole cared about now was getting revenge on the people who had taken his sister from him. He knew that he needed an easy target, someone who wasn't paying attention to what was going on around them. Grabbing a knife that had been dropped on the ground he saw someone who had their back completely exposed.

Astra had managed to make it to the tree line by now and she was pretty much clear of the bloodbath. She could have continued to run but concern for her friends made her stop and turn around. Just as she turned she saw Horace disappear into the trees on the east side of the Cornucopia and she smiled in relief. That smile was wiped off her face when she saw Belle take the knife to the eye and she gasped in shock when the little girl crumpled to the floor. She heard Jinx's roar of complete anguish as his District partner fell and she half expected him to fall to the ground crying. But he didn't; instead he looked around furiously, calculating, before, without any form of waning he pretty much charged straight at Orion, and knocked him straight to the ground. Astra let out a tiny 'eep' and against her better judgement she ran straight back into the bloodbath.

Sparky was clutching Iris's hand, keeping her close to him as they weaved through the Cornucopia. No one was really paying any attention to them, because by this stage most of the tributes from the outlying Districts had gone and the Careers were all pretty distracted. Despite the fact that everyone else was giving him a wide birth, the safest place to stand was behind Botis, because the humongous boy was just going through the packs rather than going on a killing spree. He was going through the packs, and when he didn't find anything, he'd just chuck it over his shoulder and say, "useless," and that was precisely why Sparky was standing behind him. As a pack was flung over his shoulder, Sparky grabbed it out of the air, and as he slung it over his shoulder, he threw an arm over Iris's shoulder, and guided her out of the bloodbath before anyone remembered they were even there.

As Cole charged towards his target, knife in hand, he could hear someone behind him, but he knew where the careers were so he wasn't concerned. But even as he plunged the large knife towards Orion's exposed back, to distracted by ducking under Jinx's blows, he felt a pair of arms go around his neck and a pair of legs around his stomach.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! YOU CAN'T HURT HIM!"

Orion half looked up from where he was grappling with Jinx to see Astra, completely wrapped around Cole, who he realised had been about to stab him. Astra was screaming loudly and swaying side to side as Cole tried to throw her off, but she stayed on like a rodeo clown. As Cole struggled in the girl's koala grip, Jinx managed to get a shot into his stomach, winding Orion severely, and Orion, unable to help Astra, was forced to turn his attention back to his own opponent. But even so Cole was struggling, and as he tried to throw Astra one way, she went the other, and a sickening crack was heard and he dropped to the ground.

Astra poked him with one finger as she kneeled on top of him, "hello? Hello?"

But Orion who'd just given Jinx a decent throw backwards, looked around and saw him on the ground, before giving the only logical answer he could, "Astra… I think you broke his neck."

"What? No! No, no, no, no. I didn't! No," She squealed in denial.

But Orion could offer no more in the way of support or comfort because Jinx was back up and at him again. The two crashed into the wall of the Cornucopia. He had to think of someway to thank her; after all she had just killed someone to save him. So, pushing Jinx away he kicked a pack towards her before he was slammed even harder into the metal wall.

Astra was freaking out. She continued to poke Cole's body, hoping that he would get up, refusing to believe that he was actually dead. She jumped when something knocked against her heels, and turned to see the pack that was resting just behind her. Then she realised that, even if Cole wasn't dead, that she still had to go. Grabbing the pack and blowing a quick kiss in Orion's direction, she bolted once again towards the tree line. But as she ran she didn't notice Shimmer had just arrived on the scene.

Ursula was at the very top of a nearby tree, simply watching and waiting. She had shed several tears, after watching two of her friends die but was now back to observing. Lilith had made a small seat out of the packs and was simply sitting there having a cat nap. Botis had given up on chucking packs away and was currently inspecting the blade of a large, cruel hunting knife. Seir, from what she could tell via lip reading, was making puns about the severed heads and Kali was laughing. But what concerned her was the fact that Orion was still in a massive brawl with Jinx and Shimmer was going after Astra.

Shimmer selected her arrow carefully, this was going to be her first kill, and it was going to be the girl who had almost ruined everything, this had to be perfect. Gripping the wood of her bright white bow, she prepared herself to shoot as she knocked the arrow to her bow, but just as she drew the string, Orion noticed what she was doing.

"Shimmer!" he yelled, "Little help here?"

Shimmer turned and shot straight at Jinx, striking the District Six boy in the back of the neck, where he crumpled to the ground, flailing for a few horrible moments before his movement ceased completely, a hand reaching out in Belle's direction like he'd been trying to get to her. Astra hadn't particularly noticed the save Orion had pulled for her, by now she had completely disappeared into the forest. But Orion who had been close enough to see the light leave Jinx's eyes, was horrified, he couldn't believe he'd just made that call, decided that Astra's life was more important than the boy who had wanted nothing more to take revenge for the death of a sweet, twelve-year-old girl.

"Nice shot aye?" Shimmer purred wrapping an arm around his shoulders, crooning at him.

He pushed her straight off him, and then he realised that the only ones left at the Cornucopia were the careers, and a pile of dead bodies, and that was when the cannon shots rang out, and silently he counted, 'One, two, three, four…'

He'd been expecting a fifth, he could see five bodies bleeding on the ground, and it was a shock enough to see two of them without their heads, but Seir looked around, clearly concerned of the lack of a fifth shot, 'One of them must still be alive,' he said suspiciously.

'Who cares?' Kali sneered, 'If they're still alive they won't last much longer, besides I'm more concerned with seeing if we can catch any more tributes before it gets dark. Besides what the hell were you two doing?'

She was looking accusingly at Botis and Lilith who as far as she was concerned, hadn't done anything useful in the bloodbath. Botis simply shrugged which clearly infuriated Kali that bit more, and Lilith yawned sleepily and shrugged as well. Kali kicked viciously at a nearby corpse and turning on her heel strode off, Seir following her almost obediently. Shimmer smirked, and flounced off after them, and after a few seconds of considering their options both Lilith and Botis followed as well.

Orion slowly made his way through the blood stained snow. The bodies of the tributes, Cady, Chance, Jinx, Cole and Belle, lay sprawled across the ground. He refused to look at the gruesome, headless corpses of Cady and Chance and he didn't want to look at Jinx, who was face down on the floor, hand grasping uselessly for Belles. Shimmer had removed her arrow from his neck; apparently she didn't want to 'waste it'. Slowly, he crouched and closed Jinx's eyes, which were open and staring blankly, the cold sky being reflected in the dead orbs.

He was just standing up when he heard it. A tiny, sobbing breath, barely audible over the cold, whistling wind. He frowned, confused. Then he heard it again and this time he could tell where it came from. He carefully made his way over to Belle's body. Her remaining eye was closed tightly, tears leaking from the corner and dripping down onto the snowy ground. Her little body shook from pain, cold and fear. Blood still poured from her empty eye socket, almost like scarlet tears. She flinched openly when his body blocked the sun, casting a shadow over her tiny body.

"Belle?" he asked, as he knelt beside her. Her good eye opened a crack and her breathing hitched.

"Orion?" she whimpered, "It hurts." She started crying even harder.

Now he was at a loss of what to do. She wouldn't survive that was certain, but it would take her a while to die, most likely in a horrendous amount of pain. There was a slight tap on his hand. Without thinking he turned his hand over and wrapped his fingers around hers. He wanted to tell her that it would all be okay but she was smart. She knew that she was going to die and he didn't think that him telling her that everything would be okay would help. She just wanted the pain to go away.

"I'm scared." He looked down as Belle spoke again in a sobbing, pain filled voice, that almost broke his heart.

"Shh, I know. I know" He soothed. He used his free hand to stroke her hair back from her blood coated face, "Don't worry. It'll be over soon."

Belle looked up at him through tear filled eyes and even though she was young she knew what he meant. Keeping one hand firmly locked around hers he pulled his small knife from his belt.

"Am I going to see my Granny?" She asked suddenly.

Her pain filled eye flicked down to the knife in his hands but she didn't look scared. More accepting. And that was made it hurt most of all. Someone so young, had no choice but to accept that they would live no more.

"Yes, you're going to see her soon. The pain will stop soon. I promise."

She locked eyes with him and held his gaze, before giving him a very, very small nod, almost seeming thankful despite what he was about to do. The hand which was holding the knife trembled. He had to do this whether his emotions were telling him that he couldn't. He couldn't leave Belle here to slowly bleed out, to die painfully in a world that had betrayed her innocence.

"It hurts Orion." She whispered again. Orion exhaled slowly as he bent his head. He had to do this. He knew that he did.

Keeping his hand locked firmly around hers, refusing to let go, or look away, he shifted his hand on the knife. There was nothing he could say, no words that came to mind that could comfort her.

With a single and lethal jerk of his hand, he slit the little girl's throat. The cannon sounded instantly and her hand loosened in his as she breathed her last. He placed the bloody knife on the ground and gently closed Belle's remaining eye.

"I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have had to die," he whispered.

He let go of her hand and placed it on her stomach gently, before slowly standing. He had been gone to long, and he knew the careers would be looking for him, or at least wondering where he had gone, the cannon would make them all to suspicious. He cast one final sorrowful look at Belle's body, heaved a deep sigh and walked away. The blood bath was over now and the second half of the games was about to begin. He just hoped the rest of the games didn't feel like this.

***A single tear rolls down cheek* *sniffle* Belle... Chance... Jinx... Cady... Cole... Five dead... a worl that was just not fare... and our three heroes separated from each other after a touching farewell and now... who knows who the next to fall will be?**

_That was so tense! And sad! Why must they all die!_

**And Orion's farewell to Belle, how sad and touching, at least he could end her pain before she was forced to die by Kali's hand in one of the most brutal ways possible.**

_I can feel myself shedding tears as I picture it now. Sorry Loopy, we did kill her but at least we gave her a good death!_

**Yeah it wasn't like we were going to do a barely glance at the death *cough cough* Cinna *cough cough* Finnick *cough cough***

_Nope, if we are going to kill someone, we will give them the death that they deserve. No skimming over in this story!_

**Precisely, and as the Games continue, you shall see every death, no details spared, this is where everything happened, the arena is alive with the cries of the dying.**

**~Selina**

_And when we say no details spared, we mean no details spared. So sit back, relax, review and enjoy the show, because things are going to start to get very interesting now. _

_Ally :)_


	18. Night Terrors

**Well hello all, we're back, we would have been back sooner but well, one of us has a life, and guess what, it's not me.**

****_Hey! It's not like I asked my parents to take me out into the middle of no where for several days with no internet access!_

**I know Ally, I know. So anyway, to Hunger Games Luver, we're sorry we didn't get to give you a chapter update on your birthday, but we might be able to get you another chapter today so who knows, maybe that can make up for it. And as for your second review, well, maybe we should have included a don't try this at home warning.**_  
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****_Dear T.C, Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear T.C, HHHHAAAPPPPYYYY Birthday to you! Is it okay that we're glad you cried?_

**Dear Curiosity, we're so glad that you aren't furious with us for killing Belle, but I guess its understandable why we had to do it, the innocent start to fall one by one. And you really thought we'd kill Astra off so soon? Oh come on, we love her to much. But yeah Shimmer's a bitch, she still did kill Jinx. And we're so glad you love us :D**_  
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****_Dear Guest, I'm glad to here that you've become very attached to a certain male tribute from District One. That's all I really have to say to that. _

**Wetstar- Did we make the kitty cry?**_  
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****_Ciara- Well, I must say that I'm glad you like it. And trust me, we will warn you when it's going to get ucky. And yes, I did say when, because it will get ucky at one stage. I mean, it's me...even with Selina editing it it's still going to get ucky._

**Greenpokeguy- Hello Mudkip! We love getting long reviews, they make us feel so special! And to your second line, Ally is a little to pleased about that. Frostbite isn't as fun to write for death scenes, but it does make living in the arena very uncomfortable, you know, along with the deadly careers and stuff. She survives :D Yeah Seir's an ass, a brutal one, but still an ass. And well, there's reasons why District 12 never lasts long, Katniss talks about it a lot, so it felt right, and well, we had to kill someone. Yeah, Chance is Lyra's little friend from nine, poor little thing :'( Yeah, irony huh? Cruel and brutal irony, but still irony. And as for Cole, his twin had just died he wasn't thinking straight and he didn't know that Orion wasn't a bloodsucking evil person like the rest of the careers. And well for the record, Astra didn't mean to do it, she just jumped on his back and hoped for the best. Yeah and Jinx was logical enough. Neither do we, we don't want Astra to die!...yet, who knows we might get evil ideas. Well when one of them is the size of a bear and one of them has a spear and they know what she's capable of, no one goes near them, besides, most people were just running for their lives before Seir found them. Oh don't worry Ursula's alive for now, but no promises for later on. And here's what we do next!**_  
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****_And to our two nameless guests...we update, update, updated! Have no fear, Ally and Selina are here! And to guest number two, well all I can say is, thank the lord that the Customs people didn't find this. That would have led to some interesting questions... ;D. _

_Now we mustn't dilly or dally. We have a Hunger Games to attend. _

Chapter 18: Night terrors

'Okay...so I'm in an arena full of people who all have to kill each other...wow that's a scary prospect...now what am I going to do?' Astra perched on a tree branch thinking, tapping her chin thoughtfully, 'Also, I don't have any food with me, and I have no clue how to hunt...well I do know how to hunt...but I don't want to hurt the rabbits here. I mean really, they're so cute! Why would I want to hurt them when they're all fluffy and...I'm getting sidetracked here...okay Astra think. Use your extensive knowledge of hide and seek. Now, you always win when you hide in the most obvious place, that no one thinks that you'd be stupid enough to hide in. Like that time that I hid on the chair in the kitchen and they all walked past me several times and a few even said hi but for some reason they never found me, that was funny! So I'm looking for somewhere in plain sight that's still hidden and preferably with access to food and maybe shelter...hmmm...think, think, think...OOOHHHH, Lightbulb!'

...

The red headed boy sat in front of the fire he'd made, warming his hands, breathing in the chilled air, that was slowly becoming warmer and more smokey as the flames licked their way up the wood and shrubbery. He rubbed his hands together, trying to stay warm despite the frigid atmosphere that the gamemakers had decided upon that seemed to get colder and colder as time went on. Rupert was going vaguely blue in the cold but the closer he stayed to the fire and the bigger he made it was slowly making him relax and grow warmer and warmer. But he didn't realise how big he'd actually made it. How much smoke was actually coming off it, only increased by the leaves he'd chosen as kindling. He didn't realise that he was practically begging for someone to find him, that he might as well have had a giant glowing sign with neon letters saying "I'm right here. Someone come get me."

Stepping into the light that the fire cast through the woods, was the monstrous boy from District Four, over six and a half feet, with arms like tree trunks and the strength in one hand to crush boulders. He wasn't in anyway being discreet, he walked deliberately and purposely towards the slight and ignorant boy. Before Rupert even knew he was there, Botis grabbed him by the throat with one claw like hand and lifted him up into the air. Rupert squeaked in alarm, struggling with all his might to get free from the choking grip, but it was of no use. Botis just watched in some sort of sick amusement as the boy suffocated, but then almost as if he wanted to hear the sickly crack that it gave off, he tightened his grip and then with his other hand, twisted the withering boy's head so hard that the neck broke. The loud boom from the cannon rang through the night frightening birds and sending them screeching into the air.

Botis chucked Rupert's corpse to the ground and turned to look at the other careers who were laughing as they walked towards him. Kali smirked and kicked the body so hard it flipped over, laughing as she did so, her dark eyes glinting with malicious pleasure. Seir clapped Botis on the back, looking highly entertained. Lilith simply tossed her hair back, looking bored, before loudly asking when she got to kill someone. Shimmer was looking amused, grinning as she looked at the body. But one person was completely silent, respectful as they looked at what had happened, Orion wasn't saying a word, he just looked at the corpse, grim faced, not taking any joy in the events unlike his companions, he just simply remained silent. After a few mocking jokes, outrageous laughter and complete and utter disrespect to the innocent child they had killed, the district he had come from and humanity in general, the careers decided to move on.

But Orion was left standing stock still, he just couldn't process what had just happened. He could feel vomit rising in his throat as he did so, but he just couldn't leave them open, the wide, hazel eyes that stared blankly to the heavens above. And making sure the careers were far enough away so they couldn't see him doing it, he closed his eyes before moving after the careers.

But he heard a slight noise behind him, only very slight but it still made him whip around. That's when he saw her and he felt like suddenly a breath of air that had been denied of him since he'd entered the arena was finally able to be taken, Astra, she was okay. She looked around, but missed him in the trees, and the moment she thought that she was alone, she pulled the pack straight off Rupert's back. She didn't do it roughly, but she did it as quick as possible, but she had knocked him out of place so she half settled him as much as she could. She looked upset, like she was biting back tears, trying to hold herself together, but she was alive, and for now she wasn't hurt, or being hunted, and that was the biggest relief he could hope for right now.

She moved to a nearby tree and scaled it expertly, glancing around, her bright green eyes glowing in the starlight, and he couldn't help the whisper that escaped him, 'how could the world be so cruel to punish one as pure as you?'

'Orion!' whined Shimmer's voice, 'Hurry up will you?' she complained.

'I'm coming,' he called back hastily, moving as quickly as he could away from Astra.

He would not let them know she was there, he just needed to protect her. He realised now that it wasn't just Lyra he needed to protect, it was Astra to, he couldn't handle the thought of either of them dying. The best way to protect them was from inside the career pack, he could keep the most dangerous predators off their tail, then it was the only thing he could do of value in these games, and that meant everything to him. He'd already sworn to Toby to try to get Lyra out, whether he'd been able to get the message to him or not, he was determined to do just that. And now he made the same promise to himself about Astra, he wasn't going to let her die if he could do anything about it. He knew he didn't have any reason to get out, the least he could do with the remainder of his life was try to make someone who deserved to live got out.

...

'Lyra!' Ike called loudly.

'Come on!' Lyra called, 'Keep going!'

'Lyra!' Ike insisted, 'Here's the spot.'

'Particular reason why here?' Greg said boredly.

'Well a pond of fresh water,' Ike said pointing to the large pond that both Lyra and Ike had missed, 'It's a good clearing, it's pretty circular so it'll be easier for me to rig with traps, if there is a source of water here then animals that we can hunt will be coming here constantly, and from what I remember from the edible plants section nearly all of these are edible, except for that bush there, hell there are even some apples up there. It's about a good of a position as we can get.'

Lyra nodded instantly trusting Ike's logic, and dumped the large number of packs she'd collected onto the ground, 'Greg, help me sort through the packs, get any rope we have to Ike for his traps. And see whatever else we have in here.'

Greg didn't seem to like the idea of taking orders from Lyra. but he dumped the rest of the packs unceremoniously on the ground and began going through the packs, every now and then he would chuck some rope out to Ike. Lyra was doing something similar, but she kept looking at the apple tree looking like she'd rather be eating every fruit on the tree. And when the rope was taken out of all eleven packs, Lyra who had found a long knife that resembled more of a small sword, gave it to Ike, as well as a shovel she'd found, and he disappeared into the trees.

'Need any help with the traps?' Greg asked as he accepted a large butcher knife from Lyra.

Ike had an odd tone in his voice as he called back, 'No, I'm fine here.'

Lyra frowned at the tone, it was almost like he didn't want them to know what he was doing, but she ignored it, Ike was probably not in a good mood, she didn't blame him. But that was when four loud booms rang out shortly followed by a fifth, and Lyra collapsed to her knees, Greg didn't seem particularly concerned, he was to busy strangling a small bunny that he'd just caught with his bare hands. Ike moved out of the trees, a large amount of rope still slung over his shoulder, the knife/sword still in his hand.

'Five dead... lets just hope that it was the five careers other than Orion,' Ike said quietly, even he couldn't bring himself to be nice to the careers, but they all knew that this idea was hopeless, none of them would be dead.

'Five dead, nineteen left to fight, eighteen left to die,' Greg commented as he continued to squeeze the air out of the rabbit, 'I wonder how painful their deaths were.'

'How can you be so heartless?' Ike asked quietly glaring at Greg.

Lyra's glare at both boys was enough to shut them both up, but Lyra didn't seem particularly stable right now, 'I wonder who we've lost... it would be to much to hope that none of our friends have been killed.'

Ike put an arm around her shoulder, and then told her calmly, 'Look Lyra, only five died in the bloodbath, usually its nearly half of the draw thats killed, the chances are most of our friends are alive, they wouldn't hang around the cornucopia, you know they wouldn't. We're just going to have to wait for tonight to see who's dead, in the meantime we have to just make sure that we aren't joining them, you start gathering some food up, fill up the canteens, I'll finish off the traps. Okay?'

Lyra nodded carefully, before pulling out the six canteens they'd managed to collect and began filling them up, but just Ike glanced back at Greg who was holding up a rather squashed rabbit, 'What do you think you're doing to that poor thing!' he hissed.

'Killing it, we need meat,' he said tonelessly.

'Then you break it's neck, you don't squeeze the air out of it,' Ike said looking deeply disgusted, 'What's the point of prolonging its suffering?'

'I'll keep that in mind,' Greg replied in a tone that made it clear that he cared very little about Ike's opinion on these matters and nothing he said was going to make an impact on his actions.

Ike bit his lip but went back to his trap making, it was three hours later that he emerged from the trees, 'We're safe now, no one can enter here without getting caught in a trap, there's only one safe path out of it,' he told them, 'I'll point it out to you to later.'

'Are the trees-?' Lyra began.

'I've half severed off any branch that would be good enough for someone to swing in, they'd fall straight into another trap when it broke,' Ike said calmly.

'The pond-' Lyra tried again

'I've dug a deep trench around the far end of the pond, if they fall in they'll either be trapped there until we pull them out or they drown as the pond starts overflowing into the trench as the frost and most likely snow makes the water expand.'

'Looks like you've though of everything huh?' Greg said sounding almost to interested in his last plan.

'Well lets hope it doesn't come to that,' Ike said once again seeming a little out of it.

'Let's light a fire now that we're safe, cook the rabbits that Greg's caught, still don't entirely know how he caught six of them without using any sort of trap,' Lyra said calmly.

But just as she started to make the fire, the light in the arena slowly faded to dark, and the temperature began to drop with it, and by the time she had a roaring blaze going, it was pitch black, and a thin layer of ice had grown on top of the water. Suddenly feeling unsure, she scaled a nearby tree, popping her head through the interweaving vines that covered the clearing, looking out at the arena before her. She could feel Greg and Ike's eyes on her, but she didn't particularly care, she just stared out over the arena until she found the source of her worry.

'Someone else is making a fire,' she called down.

'Where abouts are they?'

'Closer to the east side, not to far from the river, by it looks of it,' Lyra called back, 'But if I can see it from here the person who lit it is in trouble, the careers are going to head straight for it.'

'Why wouldn't they head for ours?'

'Because ours is being blocked off mostly by the foliage,' Lyra explained as she dropped down from the tree, 'We can still see the sky from that side, but the wind is sending the smoke that way, which means its going out slowly through the sky but mostly it has to go through the trees as well, we're less distinct from a distance.'

Ike nodded taking what she said in stride but once again Greg seemed curious, 'How can you tell.'

'What part of District Seven don't you get?' Lyra laughed, 'If I'm in a tree nothing can stop me, besides something about being high up makes me think more clearly, thank god I'm so tall.'

Ike and Greg both laughed at that before they were suddenly cut off by the sound of a cannon, they fell dead silent, and Lyra looking around scaled the tree again, before climbing down to tell them the news, 'The smoke from the other fire has gone down, chances are its dying out because the person tending to it was just killed.'

'Six dead, eighteen left to fight, seventeen left to die,' Greg intoned and Lyra glared at him, but the look Ike gave him was ten times worse then Lyra's half-hearted glare.

'All we can do is hope that their deaths were peaceful and painless,' Lyra said quietly.

'Why would we hope that?' Greg muttered very quietly, so quiet that Lyra couldn't hear him, but Ike certainly had, and he felt the colour drain from his face he just hoped he hadn't heard what he heard.

But it wasn't to long until suddenly the stars flickering above them faded, and the anthem began to play, and suddenly knitted out in the sky were the images of those who died. The first to be shown was the boy from five, Rupert, instantly ruling out any of the careers deaths. This was shortly followed by Jinx, which at this revelation Lyra made an odd choking noise, and Ike's mouth fell wide open. None of them had expected that a fighter like Jinx would be killed on the first day. But straight afterwards Belle's image was projected, and that was when Lyra's tears began, the sweet innocent girl was gone. But Lyra truly broke down when the face of Chance from nine, Lyra's little friend was dead, the girl who had worried so much about the other tributes not liking her, who took to Lyra like a new mother, was dead. Lyra was in such a state she didn't even seem to notice it as the faces of Cole and Cady from twelve were revealed.

'...Jinx... Belle... Chance...' Ike said faintly, he had been a friend to the young girls and Ike had been one of the few people that Jinx had seemed to like.

But Lyra who had been very, very close to Chance was turning slowly into a mess, 'Chance... the poor little thing... my god... she never... she never...'

'Had a chance?' Greg offered.

'Shut up!' Lyra roared whipping around, 'Don't you care at all about the loss of an innocent life?'

'Not particularly,' Greg said boredly.

Ike shoved Greg hard, before stooping down beside Lyra's crumpled form and pulling her into his arms, 'hey... it's alright now,' he said being as calm as he could, 'They can't be hurt anymore by this world. Their deaths were inevitable, you knew that, but you made their last few days as pleasant as possible. You gave all of them something to hope for, you did all you could, but there was no way you could have helped them.'

Lyra collapsed backwards into Ike's arms, she was still crying but Ike had managed to do something to keep her from destroying something, or having yet another break down. But Lyra was showing her weakness, she'd grown attached to the other tributes, and whether she knew it or not, that was the reason why people all over the Capitol, and all over Panem, were flocking to sponsor the fighting girl with the humongous heart. But she also didn't know that one of her companions was taking careful note of this weakness, someone who didn't care about anyone in the arena other than themselves, someone who was plotting and planning for a painful end for his companions.

**...Well that was sad.**

****_Yeah. Was anyone else slightly creeped out by Greg in that? I know I was!_

**Of course I was who squishes a bunny to death!**

****_Don't squash the bunny rabbit Greggy!_

**...Wow, really? So anyway next chapter more games, and more death, how depressing.**_  
><em>

****_What do you mean by depressing? Death isn't depressing, it's fun! Oops, that kind of creepy...heh heh? _

**~Selina**_  
><em>

****_Here comes a candle to light you to bed, and here comes a chopper to chop off your head...hey were's Selina gone? Selina? Come out come out where ever you are! _

_Before I go to hunt Selina down, don't forget to drop us a review. All you have to do is click on that little box down there. Do you see it? Its the text box with 'leave a comment here' on it. _

_Make sure you review,  
>Or evil Ally will come for you<em>

_Ally :)_


	19. Snow Fall

**Hi all, we're back, and thanks for your magnificent reviews, and don't worry, we haven't forgot you guys, all magnificent fourteen of you!**

_We could never forget you. We love you too much!_

**We give much thanks to all of them. Hungergamezluver (3x), Unknown Apple, IloveRue87, Guest, courts, Bella, Hufflepuff, Little Bit Loopy, CiaraMarie96, Ravenclawtribute, GreenPokeGuy and Wetstar. And now a few things we have to say to them:**

_Little Bit Loopy: hello our mildly insane friend! We're glad that the title gave you chills, it was supposed to. Yes, Astra is quite unique when it comes to figuring stuff out isn't she. It's okay Loopy, we know that the Careers are bastards as well. Thank Selina for the beautiful Ike and Lyra scenes, but they are like a family. And yes Loopy, be very afraid of Greg! Be very afraid indeed, because you're right about how much we love a good little torture scene. We're giving you ideas? Oh no, we should be scared as well!_

**IloveRue87- Oh stop it, you're making us blush!**

_Guest: Hello again, we're glad you like it…although just a warning. That wasn't the last depressing scene. Plenty more on the way. Thank you, we love hearing that people like our story!_

**Hufflepuff: Depressing? Good that was what we were aiming for.**

_Hungergamezluver: We've updated. Have no fear. And don't worry. We would never abandon this story! We love it too much! So don't worry, this will not get left to gather dust. But we're glad you like it! Hopefully you'll like this chapter as well! _

**Courts- We're glad it's wow, and we're glad your so enthusiastic about this, and seeing as some other reviewers are chanting die Astra die so they can have Orion to themselves, we're glad someone loves Astra just as much as we do. Yeah it wouldn't be fair to Lyra, or to Orion, none of our tributes deserve to die, but that's what makes the Hunger Games so horrible, it robs the lives of those who don't deserve to die to entertain people so twisted that they do deserve it. As for the title, you'll have to wait and see, it'll be a long time before the title is explained. And we've updated!**

_Bella: Have no fear, it is never over with the two of us! And thank you so much! You have the same name as Belle? That is pretty cool indeed! Did we call it a plane? Oopsies! Thanks for pointing that out though, we like constructive criticism so never be afraid to give it. We don't bite…hard. Joking. We really do love a bit of constructive criticism so if you spot anything please feel free to point it out._

_Don't worry, you're not getting annoying in the slightest. Nothing annoys Selina and myself, especially not amazing reviewers like yourself._

**Unknown Apple- APPLE! How I have missed you and your fantastic reviews, and now Ally can experience it as well. We try our best, we find it ridiculously hard to get some of these chapters written because we don't want to kill people, but we know we have to, we need to make it as brilliant as possible. And the three perspectives are what makes it so real in a way, not one person is completely sure about what happens in a death match like this, so it only makes sense that it would take a few people to tell a story properly. We hope the other readers have been getting attached to the characters as well, we want every single person to have some sort of place in the heart and mind of every reader. Ike is truly brilliant inside, but I can see why you'd think that he was hopeless, he's too kind, to much of a good person, and that is amazing in most places, but not here, its what gets you killed, but we can't say how much longer he'll last or if he lasts forever, who knows (apart from Ally and I) And Greg well... we'll see what happens with him. We'll do what we can Apple! And we're glad you like it. The conversations are a lot of fun for us as well and we're glad you like it. And we hope that there are many more like you Apple, no matter how many readers ship Orion with themselves. Love ya Apple.**

_Now here's our chapter!_

Chapter 19: Snowfall

It was mid-morning when Ike decided he couldn't sit back and watch it anymore; he had to talk to Lyra. All of last night and all of this morning, Greg had been giving him the creeps. He had never liked him, and the only reason he managed to tolerate him as an ally was because Lyra trusted him, and that had seemed enough. Lyra was never wrong, _never, _he was sure that she'd be right about Greg, but he just couldn't sit back and watch anymore, something was up with that guy.

Lyra was at the top of a tall tree, one that would be to tall for anyone else except for them to climb, there was only one safe path up the tree and no one else would have spotted it. Greg was just outside of the camp, hunting was the word he used, Ike could only guess that he was torturing a possum and didn't want Lyra to start getting suspicious. Ike climbed up beside Lyra, being as careful as he could on the frost gathering on the branches, and even as she sent him a smile, it faded when she noticed his grim expression.

'What is it?' she asked, her eyes narrowing.

'We need to talk about Greg,' he sighed.

'What about him?'

'I don't trust him, at all.'

'You're being paranoid-'

'And if paranoia has any place in the world its here, look something is up with him. His method of killing small animals involves prolonging their deaths as long as possible. It's not just wrong, but it's creepy, and as amusing as torture is to you and him, I know that your interest is merely theoretical, his seems like it could be practical-'

'You're insane!' Lyra yelled and gave him a hard shove that nearly knocked him out of the tree.

'Lyra! Who do you trust more? Me or Greg?' Ike asked.

'You of course, but I still trust Greg, I'm a child of the streets, I read people fast of I die, I have good judgment, here's my question Ike, do you trust me?' Lyra asked.

'Of course I do but-'

'No buts, if you trust me, then you should trust my judgment as well,' Lyra was giving him a hard, unwavering look.

He sighed, he knew there was no way to convince her of this now that she'd made up her mind, but everyone had holes in their judgment, blind spots in their knowledge, and he was sure that somehow, Greg was Lyra's. He just nodded at Lyra, and she smiled at him touching his cheek lightly. And he climbed down the tree, but he came face to face with Greg, who was looking at him with dark eyes, a small creepy smile on his face, he knew he'd heard enough. A large, dead possum was in one hand, and judging from the way the meat sagged over its bones, it almost looked like most of the meat had been half removed from its ones while it was still alive. Blood dripped from the corpse, but from Ike's angle, he couldn't see where on earth it had been cut, and he didn't want to know.

'What the hell did you do to that thing?'

'Bad things happen to creatures who aren't careful where they wonder, or how they act,' Greg said simply.

Greg moved away but Ike's hand moved to the machete at his side. He didn't trust Greg, he didn't trust him at all, but he couldn't leave Lyra, he just couldn't, Lyra was his only chance at surviving, and he cared far too much about her to leave her wit this homicidal maniac, but he had to be careful. Greg was unhinged enough to make him dangerous. And he didn't think that being on the receiving end of that rage was beneficial to anyone.

...

'Oh my God, I am so cold!' Shimmer whined loudly.

It was cold indeed. The snow, which had stopped for a few hours after Rupert's death had started up again and the wind was blowing once again, getting gradually colder. The thermal clothing was helpful, but it didn't completely stop the wind.

'We're all cold,' Kali snapped, obviously growing tired of Shimmer's constant complaining.

Orion sighed internally, vaguely hoping that Kali would snap and kill Shimmer now, so they no longer had to put up with Shimmer's infernal complaining. Tempers were already starting to wear thin among the group, which was funny because the careers usually got on well with each other for a while. But then again, they generally had more cooperative people in the group and this group didn't. Botis, from what he had seen so far spent most of his time not talking and not paying attention. Lilith was almost as bad as Shimmer, and constantly got on Kali's nerves, mainly because she spent most of her time cat-napping. Kali and Seir were perhaps his two least favourite of the entire group. They spent a copious amount of time whispering in each-others ears, and sometimes just exchanging knowing glances. Orion had no idea what they talked about and he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

'It'll be dark soon. We should find a place to stay and light a fire,' Seir said.

As it turned out, not one of the other careers was really any good at lighting fires, so it came down to Orion. Whilst Lilith cat-napped and Shimmer stubbornly refused to help, Kali went through their packs again and Seir and Botis gathered wood.

Orion was organizing the kindling when a huge log was dumped beside his hand, 'I'm supposed to be able to use that?' he asked, looking up at Botis who shrugged.

He glared at the log then after Botis. It was huge, big enough for him to use as a chair and he was expected to a, move it and b, use it in a fire?

He was still contemplating how to move it when Botis came back over, picked up the log and then calmly and easily snapped it. Orion brushed the wood dust out of his eyes, as Botis dropped the two separate halves of the log onto the ground again.

'I don't know whether I should be creeped out or impressed?' he muttered.

'Neither, just hurry up and get the fire lit,' Kali barked, obviously in a bad mood.

'Okay, okay…' he said, holding up his hands, 'calm down, I'm going.'

That was obviously a mistake, because in a flash Kali had flung a knife and it missed his head by a few centimetres.

'Just move it!' she hissed.

Everyone went silent and even Lilith stood up and started to randomly look like she was working, Botis disappeared into the trees again and Shimmer went to 'help' Lilith. Orion went back to working on the fire, watching her out of the corner of his eye, glaring after her every move. But even as he arranged the fire, he vaguely saw a set of wide-set green eyes watching from the top of a snow covered tree.

He had just managed to get a small fire going when Botis remerged from the tree line, looking vaguely excited. He summed it up in two words, which made Orion's heart sink.

'Fresh meat!'

…

Astra sat up in her tree, out of sight of the careers, who were so arrogant that they never expected someone to be watching them and following them.

So far, she had done pretty well; her idea had been a good one. She had collected another pack, although she had taken it from a dead body and had scored a thermal sleeping bag out it. There was also the blanket that the careers had left behind at one point, considering that a tiny hole had been burnt into the black fabric by a stray ember.

She let out a quiet 'eep' when Kali threw a knife at Orion, which thankfully no one heard, because they were all so busy avoiding Kali's temper, and was very relieved when it missed him. A few moments later her and Orion's eyes met, but it was only for a fleeting second, because he looked away quickly. She went back to watching in silence as the careers continued to work. Seir was talking to Kali in hushed whispers by this point and she was still looking a little angry, although slightly less homicidal.

The peace was disturbed with the arrival of Botis, and even though she couldn't hear what he said, she could guess that it wasn't very good, judging by the looks of sadistic glee on the careers faces. They moved away at once, leaving everything unguarded.

Astra watched them for a second, before securing her pack to her tree and leaping silently after them.

...

'It's so cold Sparky,' Iris whispered as she rubbed her hands together, sniffling lightly, she had lost hope very quickly in the arena.

'I know Riss, we can't light a fire though, that's how they got Rupert,' Sparky told her looking at her earnestly with his startling blue eyes.

'I'm just- its so cold,' Iris's eyes filled with tears and she choked out, 'What's the point of it all Sparky? We're going to die anyway, we- we- we have no chance at getting out, none at all. The Capitol… they're going to watch us die and enjoy it, and it'll be all for nothing, nothing at all. It's all so pointless!'

'Ris, you can think like that,' Sparky said, 'We've got a chance, one of us might get out, and I'm going to do all that's in my power to try to help you survive.'

'B-b-but… I just want to go home! Why me? Why us? We haven't done anything wrong! Why are we still being punished for what happened seventy three years ago! We weren't even born then, neither were our parents and our grandparents were barely toddlers! We shouldn't be here Sparky, it's not fair!' Iris was crying but Sparky could do very little to comfort for her, he sighed and decided to just tell it to her straight.

'Iris, fair has nothing to do with it, we're here and we can't be sad about it, we just have to deal with it. Look Riss, your parents, they're watching you now, and they need you to stay strong, they haven't accepted the fact that their little girl might die, and you can't either. Iris, you have to, you have to stay strong, you have to get out, if anyone in here deserves to go home its you,' Sparky said.

Iris hugged Sparky around the waist burrowing her head into his stomach, sobbing quietly. Sparky just held her there, he had no idea how he was supposed to protect her, make sure she went home no matter what happened to him, when she had given up all hope, but that was when he heard a slight crack in the trees. His head rose, and he sniffed the air like a frightened rabbit, he made a shush signal to Iris, who nervously sat up, her tears drying but looking terrified beyond belief. He pulled the knife he had taken from the Cornucopia from the band round his waist and waited for a long moment before creeping forward silently.

But suddenly Botis emerged from the trees barely two meters from Sparky, Sparky realising what was going to happen whipped around and yelled, 'Run Iris!'

But it was to late for Sparky, Botis grabbed his head cracking it to the side. Sparky crumpled to the ground like a misbalanced block tower, his eyes rolled back in his head and he died silently within milliseconds, that was when the cannon sounded. Botis pulled the knife out of his cold dead hand as Iris screamed loudly before turning to run.

He turned to someone else in the trees and offered the knife to them, 'Any use to you Kali?'

Kali examined the knife carefully then nodded and took it from his grasp, 'Aren't you worried that the girl is going to escape?' she mused.

Botis raised an eyebrow and said, 'No, Lilith's got her.'

Kali turned just in time to see Lilith step out of the trees and peg the spear expertly through the air, Iris crumpled, screaming loudly as the spear tore through her back, the spear had gone straight through Iris and Lilith wrenched it out without blinking, 'She'll bleed out soon enough,' she said carelessly.

'Nice throw,' Kali told her walking towards her, seeming to almost deliberately step on Sparky's body.

Lilith shrugged, 'It's what I'm trained for, although I thought it would feel more satisfying to kill, I'm bored.'

'Maybe you'll feel different when she's actually dead,' Kali said cruelly and leaned down over Iris's body on the ground, 'You know, I heard you and your little friends conversation, neither of you are getting out, neither of you ever had a chance.'

The gaping wound in Iris's back was overflowing with blood, as it seeped from the wound, leaving a red stain on the ground. Her bright brown eyes were overflowing with tears, but her mouth was set in a tight line, refusing to cry out in pain. Kali seemed oddly satisfied with the look of the bleeding out girl, that was when Seir, Orion and Shimmer entered.

'Oh look at that Orion,' Shimmer purred, 'Seven down, and an eighth in a mere matter of minutes.'

'If only it was nine,' Orion muttered to himself.

'What was that?'

'Nothing Shimmer, nothing at all,' Orion sighed, but then stared down at Iris who was still choking, trying desperately to breathe, 'Should we just cut her throat? It seems cruel to leave her that way.'

He genuinely was concerned about Iris but Seir rolled his eyes at Orion's words, 'You're soft Orion, let the thing bleed out.'

'She's not a thing, she's a little girl, do you really think that she deserves to die?' All five of his companions just blinked at him and he realised that he should have expected that they did, he muttered 'I'm surrounded my sadistic psychopaths.'

That was when a loud cannon rang through the air and Seir rolled his eyes, 'See, she's gone now.'

All five of the other careers began walking off but Orion stared at the two fallen victims and sighed to himself, before telling the corpses, 'You didn't deserve to die. If anyone does its them.'

And with that said Orion turned on his heel and walked away, hiding his sadness behind a pokerface, it was what he was better at then anything else, hiding his emotions, he glanced behind him and saw Astra looking displeased as she removed the packs from the crumpled bodies. She looked upset, but she understood what she had to do, he considered joining her for the millionth time, he had all his things, he could be with Astra and he could protect her and she could help him. He'd much rather be by himself then with the careers, but he pushed the thought away, even if he was protecting Astra, he wouldn't be there to look out for Lyra, and he swore he'd do that. So steeling what was left of his nerves he turned away, hoping that no one would notice the half shed tears pricking behind his eyes.

***Wipes away tear* Iris... Sparky... *sniffle***

_Why? *drops dramatically to knees* why? Botis! Lilith! How could you?_

**They're so... ugh! Okay try to calm down Selina *yoga breaths***

_Take a deep breath in...and let it out...okay, I'm calm now. But still... They are so mean!_

**Agree with us? Why don't you drop us a review?**

_And why not check out our original story? It's on Fictionpress and it's called Zero Hour. If you like our characters then you'll like this story. _

** s/3039274/1/Zero_Hour It would be a great help to us if you could read or review to this, admittedly it's why we took so long to update, we became so attached to it that we were more interested in writing it and we hope you'd be interesting in reading it. You can also find the link on our profile.**

_So please check it out if you have a spare minute or two. _

_Farewell for now! We will be back soon!_

_:) Ally_

**We love you all! See you next time!**

**~Selina**


	20. Hunted

**Hey all you wonderful readers, Selina and Ally are back!**

_Yep, we have returned with wonderful new ideas and a brilliant new chapter. Not talking ourselves up or anything._

**And let us thank our amazing reviewers, starting with T.C Bahn-Zane: Well... just read the chapter, we may have an interesting version of this for you.**

_Indeed, it is very interesting. You must read it to find out what will happen._

**To Wetstar: indeed he is creepy, but well... he's about to get that bit worse. We mourn Sparky and Iris's deaths as well *silently wipes tear***

_To RavenClawTribute: Yes, we do agree with you there. They do belong in a psych ward. And as for why Lyra trusts Greg? I dunno? She's just Lyra. Although hopefully this chapter will answer why. As for our psychos, well if they were any less psycho, then they wouldn't be as loveable. _

**Oh don't worry Ravenclawtribute, you'll get your explanation soon enough. To CiaraMarie96: *Drops a curtsy* Well thank you, very much.**

_Hungergamezluver: Well hello our dear friend. We have updated for you! At long last._

**And now its onto the chapter, and we warn you, an alliance is about to break.**

_Insert Organ music here! And on we go!_

Chapter 20: Hunted

Lyra slept soundly on the ground, curled up in a little ball on the ground, wrapped up firmly in about five blankets. But suddenly she felt something lightly touch her wrist and before she even knew what she was doing she woke up at the speed of light her fist slamming forward, and judging by the rather meaty thunk and rather satisfying crunch she felt when her fist made contact with whatever she'd hit, she opened her eyes and saw Greg standing there, covering his nose, cupping it under the bridge like he was expecting a nose bleed.

'Oh my god I'm so sorry!' Lyra trilled, 'are you okay?'

But that's when she noticed the large butchers knife she'd given him was in his hand, and she instantly thought he'd heard something, 'Did you hear something? Are the careers nearby?'

But then she heard a muffled, and freaked out noise, which made her slowly turn around. And then her heart stopped. Ike was tied to a tree by his wrists and ankles, a gag shoved into his mouth, he was wriggling and squirming uncontrollably, but then he stopped and started to make almost screaming noises through the gag. And it was only then that she noticed the rope and cloth that lay at Greg's feet which he'd dropped when she'd punched him. A shock ran through her system as she realised what was going on. Ike had been right. Greg wanted to kill them. Not just kill them, take them to the very edge of living and death, then keep them there for as long as he could manage. And then she remembered something else, Greg was still holding a knife.

'What the hell-' she started but she never got to finish.

Greg lunged towards her, the large butchers knife nearing her stomach, but before she even knew what she was doing she leapt up, dodging the knife and somehow managed to land on Greg's back. His knife was going from her even as he tried to throw her off, but as she jumped back to the ground and out of his reach, his own knife caught him in his right shoulder blade, he howled in pain, fury burning in his eyes, but he didn't let go of the knife clutched in his left fist. He wrenched the bloody knife out of his shoulder and for a second examined the scarlet liquid dripping from the blade, before looking up at her again, with cold, fury filled eyes, which glinted in psychopathic amusement. He was clearly ready to murder her, but Lyra had another idea, she wasn't going to die, not tonight.

Lyra ran forward and leaping to dodge the blade, she slammed him in his wound with her elbow, Greg slashed at her, and somehow the knife found its mark. She felt a searing pain splice into her back, but instead of weakening her like Greg had obviously intended, he only made her angry. And Lyra lunged forward, completely disregarding the knife, and slammed a fist straight into his skull. Greg crumpled to the ground like a stack of potatoes, the knife clattering from his hand.

Lyra fell to her knees, breathing deeply through her nose, clutching at the ground for support; she could feel the blood seeping out from the cut in her back, there wasn't a lot but she could still feel it dribbling down her back and seeping into her shirt.

Her eyes filled with tears, how could she have been so stupid, trusting Greg, she was such an idiot. What possessed her to possibly trust someone as sadistic masochist like Greg? Ike knew that there was something wrong, how could she not listen to him? How could she have risked both of their lives for some foolish trust, she knew she was better not trusting anyone, how could she have thought there was anyone that she could trust at all? Everyone in these games, everyone in this world, had a hidden agenda, no one was straight forward, no one cared what happened to her and it was never going to be any other way.

'Lyra!'

She looked up, tears streaming down her face only to see Ike, he'd managed to spit the gag out, but he was still tied up. Lyra breathed deeply and moved beside him. She began picking at the knots that tied Ike to the tree, murmuring reassuringly to him, telling him over and over again how sorry she was. She knew for now at least she could rely on Ike, she knew that Ike wouldn't be able to get out without her, which meant for now at least he meant no harm, and that was the only trust she could afford right now. Temporary.

'I can't believe I trusted him, I'm so sorry Ike, I should have listened to you-'

'Lyra, I understand. You were looking for family, you've always been looking for it,' he said, rubbing the feeling back into his wrists as she released them

'I don't understand-' she began.

But Ike interrupted her, 'Lyra, you always try to look for the best in people, you try so hard too, but the universe seems to enjoy proving you wrong.'

'But I didn't trust the careers, well except Orion, but he's different-'

'Because you knew they were raised to be a certain way, you knew that Orion was someone that only came around once every couple of million in the situation he was in. But Greg was just as much of an anomaly as Orion, he had been raised to be good and true, but he went the opposite direction, you had your expectations for what he was truly like and that was what stuffed you up,' he said as he helped her remove the ankle bonds.

'But he was always talking about torture, he was killing those animals like they didn't matter at all and all that was important was their pain, how could I have been so blind-'

'Because as much as the world's evils are presented to you, you didn't think anyone could possibly be so…'

'I guess…' she whispered.

'What now?'

'This place isn't safe anymore; he knows how to get in so even if we push him out he'll come back for us. We have to leave, we'll take all our stuff, but we have to leave.'

'Why don't we just kill him? That's exactly what he would have done to us,' Ike said even though it was clear he didn't like the thought of it.

'No. I can't kill anyone. I just can't and you know it. And I know you can't either. No matter how bad it gets I just can't stoop to that level, you know what I mean, right?'

'Right,' Ike said giving her a weak smile, 'I just wanted to make sure that I hadn't lost you in these Games.'

'I'm not going away, I'm like a boomerang, you throw me away but the moment you let your guard down I'll fly back at you and smack you in the face,' Lyra said returning the small smile, 'Come on, help me gather up the stuff and then we have to go, preferably before he wakes up.'

…

The careers continued their trek through the cold forest, barely talking. All of them were cold and tired, yet Seir insisted that they keep moving. No one argued with him, as none of them had a desire to die. Even Shimmer had shut up after Kali tired of her complaining had thrown another knife at her. No one wanted to break the silence, it was obvious that they weren't entirely happy with each other as companions.

Orion brought up the rear of the group, trudging behind Botis. He could feel Astra watching him, she was still following them, he knew that for a fact, even though he hadn't seen her yet. He was positive that she was, she hadn't been given a reason to stop it quite yet.

At last they stopped walking, but before Orion could feel too happy, he saw Seir crouch down. He made his way forward so he could see the tracks in the snow. Seir traced them with his gloved fingers.

'Tracks. They seem to go this way before they disappear,' he said, pointing deeper into the forest.

Orion came up, knowing he had to play the part and examined them, 'These are fresh. They can't have been made more than an hour ago. Whoever it was won't be too far from here and-' he hesitated slightly he could only just see the slight scarlet mark in the snow but he knew what it was, so he readjusted his prognosis, 'Maybe it was only an hour ago, but the tracks are spread pretty far apart, whoever it was, they were running, also I think they're injured.'

'How do you know that?' Kali asked suspiciously, seeming suspicious of his ability to know these things.

Orion sighed and scooped up the small part of snow, half a meter from where Seir had been looking, 'This is blood,' he said calmly, 'They're injured, not badly though, otherwise they wouldn't be able to run, but chances are they would've stopped to bandage themselves up, we're not that far from them.'

Seir nodded, then swung his axe from the clasp on his back, 'Then we split up and look for them.'

The careers exchanged glances, nodded and then walked off in opposite directions to each other. Orion looked down at the tracks and could only hope that he was wrong and whoever had made them was long gone, and only had a slight cut that could explain the blood, rather than anything serious enough to have to stop and treat, before he walked off into the woods.

…

'Ike! Ike! Slow down!' Lyra panted, 'I can't keep going.'

'Since when can't you run this far?' Ike asked turning around to face her, Lyra hesitated but then Ike remembered, 'He hit you in the back, are you okay?'

'I'm fine, it's not that deep, but it's a little hard to keep running… and I'm really sleepy, can we just… climb a tree… have a sleep… they won't be able to see us… it's too dark… and we'll be up to high,' she panted.

'Okay, but you have to promise me to let me have a look at that cut when we get up there, are you sure you can climb?' he asked.

'I promise. And if you don't remember in District Seven, we can climb with no arms. And I'm just as much District Seven as you Ike, whether they like me or not.'

They scaled a tree nearby, that was so high up, and so fragile and twisting it was a struggle even for them, until they finally got to the top, settling in the forks of the tree, but Ike still insisted on seeing the wound. He lifted the back of her jumper which fortunately had escaped damage, but the back of her shirt was ripped and a large amount of blood was soaked into the dark green fabric. He separated the shirt from her blood soaked skin, and saw the cut.

'Ouch.'

It wasn't bleeding anymore but it still looked painful, but as the cloth of her shirt moved away the very slight healing over it had done, ripped away and caused more bleeding. It wasn't too deep, it only went a two or three millimetres passed her skin, meaning Greg had barely scraped her. But despite it being shallow, it was still quite long, diagonal, nearing her spine, about three inches in length. And blood was trickling down her back.

'What medical supplies do we have?'

'I'm pretty sure we might have the only supplies in the games, honestly, we have about six medical kits, it's kinda ridiculous. But I'm fine Ike, it's nothing serious.'

'But we can't risk it, which bag are they in?'

She handed him a bag, but looked annoyed, her annoyance only grew when he poured some of the supply of water they had along the cut, 'Don't be an idiot, just use the snow, save us from collecting more water later.'

'Sorry, I'm not very good at this,' he apologised hastily and did as she said.

'Do we have any disinfectants?' she asked after a few seconds of silence, trying to help him out, as it was obvious that he was new to this.

'It looks more like a numbing cream to me, will that-'

'It'll work. You really should have gone to the medical station,' she reprimanded good naturedly.

'I didn't think about it,' Ike said quietly, but she shut up quickly when he started rubbing the numbing agent along the wound.

'Okay,' Lyra said through her gritted teeth,' bandage it up when you're done, do you know how to do it properly-'

'I can do a bandage Lyra, relax,' Ike assured her, 'Now be quiet, you shouldn't be talking when it's this painful.'

'It's not- I'll stop talking now.'

'Good girl.'

…

Astra shivered slightly in the bitter cold of the night. It had been getting steadily colder and colder as the hours dragged on, and she wondered, not for the first time, if it was to do with the lack of light, or if it was the Gamemakers at work. For extra protection against the bitter cold, Astra had wrapped herself in an extra layer of blankets, tying them around her body like a cloak.

The Careers it seemed, were also feeling the cold, they had also done what she had done, which was, wrap themselves in extra layers. Shimmer was constantly whining, which she could see was getting on everyone's nerves. And after a while Kali threw a knife at her to shut her up.

It was perhaps half an hour later when they suddenly stopped. Astra landed steadily on a branch, so she had a clear look. She watched as Seir crouched down to the snowy ground and looked at something.

'Tracks. They seem to go this way before they disappear.'

Orion moved so he could see them and Astra watched him carefully as he inspected them, She knew that the Orion she was looking at now was a fake, he was simply wearing a mask. Or so she hoped. As she watched he quickly inspected the tracks.

'These are fresh. They can't have been made more than an hour ago. Whoever it was won't be too far from here and- Maybe it was only an hour ago, but the tracks are spread pretty far apart, whoever it was, they were running, also I think they're injured.'

'How do you know that?' Kali asked looking paranoid, also irritated that Orion could do something better than Seir, which put her on edge.

'This is blood. They're injured, not badly though, otherwise they wouldn't be able to run, but chances are they would've stopped to bandage themselves up, we're not that far from them,' Orion said calmly but Astra could pretty much feel him mentally berating himself for bringing this up.

'Then we spilt up and look for them,' Seir said, and unclasped his axe from his back.

Astra didn't stay to watch the end; she leapt off into the trees and swung away. She didn't know who had made the tracks, but she knew that someone was quite close by. She had seen Horace a few hours ago; when she had been stalking the careers and she had seen which way he had gone. With any luck she would be able to find him and make sure he was safe.

As it turned out, luck was on her side after all, and within thirty minutes she had found Horace, up a tree, half hidden in the branches. She dropped in next to him. Obviously he wasn't expecting that, because he cried out in shock and nearly fell from the tree. Astra grabbed hold of his arm and steadied him.

'Sorry, didn't mean to scare you!" she squeaked, although she was careful to keep her voice down.

'Astra? What are you doing-'

'The careers are on the move again. They found tracks and Seir's sent them all off hunting. I thought I should warn you.'

Horace nodded hurriedly, 'Do you know whose tracks they are?'

'No, not a clue. But I feel really sorry for whoever it is. Apparently they're already injured.'

'How do you know that they've found tracks?' Horace asked all of a sudden.

Astra shrugged, 'I figured that the best place to hide is the most obvious one. I've been following the careers for the past few days.'

Horace looked amused, 'This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Orion would it?'

Astra let out a slight squeak, then clapped her hands over her mouth, just in case anyone had heard her, 'No! Of course not!'

Horace didn't look convinced, but before they could discuss any further, a loud 'boom' echoed through the cold woods. Astra nearly fell out of the tree in her shock and Horace had to grab her to stop her. She looked at him in shock as the woods settled back to a deathly quiet.

'The cannon, I wonder who-'

…

Lyra had taken some of the painkiller tablets that they had discovered in one of their many medical packs, so she wasn't woken by the sharp crack that instantly woke Ike. He very gently shook her awake, making sure she didn't freak out, but as she went to ask him what was wrong, he shushed her before beginning to whisper in her ear.

'Something's out there, I'm going to check-'

'You are not, what if it's a career or Greg, you could be killed,' she hissed, waking up at once, 'They wouldn't find us up here anyway, just stay here.'

'But what if it's an animal, we need more food, if you haven't realised we were relying on Greg to do the hunting and we weren't exactly planning ahead, we need the food. And what if it's a mutt and it climbs up here and attacks us, they could have monkey mutts for all we know, we can't risk it, we have to know.'

'But-'

'And if it's a Game-maker trap then we'll get a heads up if I go.'

'Okay, fine, but you are not going, I'll do it.'

'Your injured Lyra, and drugged, you can't do it.'

'Like hell, it's not that bad. Besides I'm a better a fighter, you're far less willing to fight then I am, I can injure someone badly without feeling guilt, and if the situation is dangerous enough… I might even be able to kill. I know you Ike; you wouldn't be able to do it-'

'I want to go home Lyra, if it means that I have to kill to do it I will, I have to get back to my parents, my sisters, Marina… I love them all Lyra, and you know that. But I also care about you, and I know that you can't do this right now, but I can, I'm going to go look for whatever is out there whether you like it or not.'

She hesitated before saying, 'How did you get so stubborn?'

'I learnt the tricks of the trade from the master herself, and besides, you know what I'm saying makes sense,' She still didn't look convinced so he continued, 'Look if it's just an animal, I'll bring it back here, if it's a mutt, I'll yell out to you and you come help me.'

'And if it's a career?' Lyra asked faintly.

'…You're going to hear a scream, and then a cannon, I can't promise who the cannon is going to be for, but either way you have to run for it, swear to me that you'll run Lyra.'

Lyra hesitated but then nodded slowly and asked, 'Are you sure you can do this? Are you sure Ike?'

'No. But we have to start taking risks, if we keep playing it safe then we aren't going to get anywhere in these Games.'

'But how do you know? How do you know what risks are the right ones to take?' Lyra asked, feeling the tears build up again and blaming it silently on the medication.

'You see who wins, and then you know for certain who took the right risks.'

'Ike-'

'I'll be back soon Lyra, stay safe.'

'Be careful Ike,' she whispered.

He gave her a smile and began descending down the tree, and trying to comfort her, he touched his hip, reminding her that he was armed with the large knife/short sword thing that they'd never known the name to use for. He was capable with it. He knew how to fight. But as much as Lyra knew he could fight, she wasn't sure that he would, or if this should be him taking the risk. And just like that he was gone, swallowed up by the blackness and the trees.

The snowy forest leeched down more and more snow, and it got colder and colder as the night dragged on. Lyra silently counted off her fingers which lives had been lost in this dismal death match. District Twelve had lost both Cady and Cole, who had only really had each other and their mother, who was now both a widow and childless. District Six had lost Belle, smart, sweet and strong, who hadn't seemed to give up hope when everything had seemed against her, as well as Jinx who may have been stuck in his ways, but was strong, capable, and maybe had even made his parents think for those fatal days that he might actually come home. District Three had lost two very young, very kind, very defenceless individuals, Sparky and Iris had their faces projected in the sky the night before, and she knew they would have gone down trying to protect each other.

Some Districts still had some sort of hope, only having lost one individual, but they would have been terrible to lose as well. Chance from Nine, sweet, kind, and defenceless, so ill-suited for this situation, only wanting to be loved and ending up being slaughtered like she was nothing more than a flee. And of course there was Rupert, she had never known him, she had seen him of course, but she had never spoken to him, but she knew somewhere a family grieved, friends mourned and a people silently respected his memory, the boy who they knew from the beginning didn't have a hope in the world to get out of this place that made the word hell look too weak.

It was absolutely silent, now, and that instantly put Lyra on edge. Hadn't Ike been gone a little too long? Was he hurt? Had he been attacked before he could warn her? She hadn't heard a cannon so she knew he wasn't dead, but what if he was fighting for his life against a career and she couldn't go help him? Where was he? Where was he? She was so close to going to help him, so close to running to find where he was, he couldn't be alright he couldn't be.

But before she could move from the tree, she heard a scream of pain and anguish pierce the air, that shook her to her very core, and then she heard a single loud noise that signalled inevitably that someone was dead.

Boom

The cannon had sounded.


	21. The Good Die Young

Chapter 21: The good die young

Lyra sat frozen in the tree, the silent shock running through her system, she blinked hard, trying to process what had just happened. Someone was dead, she knew that, but she didn't know where Ike was.

No, it couldn't be Ike, it just couldn't be. She refused for it to be, she couldn't deal with it if it was him. But before she could spiral into the depths of despair she forcefully shoved aside all those thoughts. No, Ike wouldn't go down that easy, it couldn't be Ike.

It was half a minute before she saw any movement and even then it was only a faint rustle of the trees. A few seconds later she saw Kali walking along the tree line and she could see the tell-tale glint of a knife in her hands. And realising the truth, the careers had been on the hunt, and no matter how much she resisted it, she knew that there was no way Ike could match a career. But there was still hope, his face wasn't in the sky, it hadn't been confirmed, it couldn't be real, it couldn't be. She needed Ike, she really did, she couldn't go through this without him, no he couldn't be dead, he couldn't be dead.

But she promised him she'd run so not caring whether or not Kali saw her move, she grabbed the packs and slung herself from the tree, catching herself on the next and swung off.

But Ike couldn't be dead. He just couldn't be.

She needed him to not be dead.

...

Ike crept through the trees glancing around suspiciously as he moved through the forest as silently as a wraith. The sword Lyra had gotten him in the bloodbath was in his hand. He ducked under a branch, his ears searching for the sound but that was when he noticed a head and broad shoulders not too far away. He counted in his head off who it could be, there were seven guys left apart from him. Orion, Seir, Botis, Greg, Farrow, Horace and Basil. But he ruled out the last three, none of them were tall enough, and three of the four remaining spelt trouble, but even as he thought of this the figure turned around, two swords jumping out of their scarabs, a sharp whipping sound pierced the air, but Ike hastily called out to him.

'Orion! Relax, it's just me.'

Orion regarded him in the dark night carefully, calculating, he put his katana back in their scarabs but Ike knew perfectly well how fast Orion could draw them again, but Orion's eyes instantly filled with alarm as he saw him, 'Ike, I thought you were with Lyra and eight on the west side.'

Ike shrugged as he moved out into view, 'We were but we found out Greg is a complete psychopath and had to leave, Lyra isn't too far away-'

'And neither are the other careers, is there anything you can do to get her to run,' Orion cut in quickly.

'Not really, if I yell out to her she'll come running in this direction, the only thing that could make her run off is if I scream and she hears a cannon,' Ike explained looking anxious, his dark eyes darting nervously around looking for any sign a less friendly career was about to show up.

Orion's entire face blanched, he realized what had to happen but Ike seemed completely ignorant to the look on Orion's face, asking very quickly and quietly, a slight quiver in his voice, 'How far away are the other careers?'

'Not too far at all, Seir found tracks about a half hour ago and has us all out looking for whoever it is,' Orion said in a low voice, but the fear and regret were building up in the back of his mind, knowing what was going to have to happen any second.

Ike opened his mouth to respond but before he could there came another voice, 'Orion?! Who are you talking to?' it was Seir's voice and Orion instantly felt another rush of feeling pulse through his body.

'Looks like you're going to have to scream,' Orion said slowly, bitter acceptance in his voice.

'Huh? But Lyra won't run if she hears me scream, she'd have to hear a can- No... Orion please don't-'

'I'm so sorry Ike, I really am,' Orion said quietly.

And before Ike could turn to run, Orion's swords leapt from their scarab and in a split second they penetrated Ike's body. Blood sprayed from the wound as Orion ripped his sword out, he knew he'd hit the lung and he could hear Ike gasping almost pathetically for air. Ike gave out a loud scream of pain dropping to his knees, hands clutching at the wound, betrayal and anger lighting his eyes as he fell to the ground, staring up at his killer. After a few seconds Ike completely collapsed on the ground and for a few long moments there was nothing but silence as Seir silently approached Orion, gaping at him. But then a loud cannon went off, chilling Orion to his very core. He'd made his first official kill, and it had been to someone who trusted him, who he doubted would have ever killed anyone in any circumstance, no matter how desperate he was to get home.

'Nice job. Who was he?' Seir grunted uncaringly not seeming to notice the look of anguish that was flicking onto Orion's face.

'Isaac Thornton, Ike, from District Seven,' Orion said quietly, forcing his voice to stay calm, to not betray any of the emotion which he was feeling at this point in time, but saying the name out loud seemed to make it that much worse.

'Seven? I thought seven was on the west side surrounded by bear traps. You told us to stay away from them for precisely that reason.'

'He moved away from the group, I interrogated him before he died and he said that the guy from eight and Lyra are still in their camping spot,' Orion lied quietly, still staring at Ike's lifeless body.

But his lie was soon irrelevant because that was when Kali ran into the clearing, completely disregarding Ike's body, she stepped straight over it and said, 'I just saw the girl from seven, but there is no way we can catch her, when the cannon went off there was about thirty second pause and then she bolted. Wouldn't have seen her at all if she hadn't moved, but she's too fast and it's too dark to track her. She's monkey swinging it from the tree tops-.'

'Looks like the little worm lied to you Orion. The girl was with him,' Seir commented, 'We should make camp, gather the rest of pack up, I'll take the first watch tonight. It looks like Orion's finally earned his place among us.'

He looked far to approving as he clapped Orion on the back, and he and Kali stepped back over Ike's body and out of the clearing, Orion stared down at Ike's collapsed form, before doing the only decent thing he could do after becoming a murderer. One thing he had hoped wouldn't happen in the games had occurred, he'd killed an innocent. He reached out and gently closed his eyes.

'I'm sorry Ike, I'm so sorry,' his voice shaking, but he had to let Ike know the truth the world know the truth, he was sure that Ike could still hear him, and he whispered as gently as he could, 'I promised to keep her safe Ike. I couldn't let them find her.'

He walked away feeling the guilt and anger and pain tear through him. He couldn't believe it, not only had he made his first technical kill but it had been to someone who was no threat to him. He knew he had slit Belle's throat but there had been no way to save her and it was more of an act of pity but Ike... He did it to get Lyra to run; surely he could have thought of some way to do it other than Ike? He should have done something other than kill. As the turmoil ripped through his brain he realized that killing Ike was something he could never justify.

Killing another human being was an act so against the nature of who he was that it just tore him apart inside. As he pictured that look of shock, betrayal, anger and utter sadness that had lit Ike's face as he was completely wiped away from the world, Orion felt tears of regret sting at his eyes, but he didn't let them fall, he just felt so... the English language didn't have a word that could describe the feeling that boiled inside him. Just like his father before him, and his father and even his father, he had become a murderer. And he had always hoped to be better than those before him, and right at this moment, he felt like he was worse, not knowing at all that it was that exact feeling which made him better.

...

The mentors were all gathered in the viewing room, that's what they called it anyway, it wasn't an official name but it certainly fitted. The viewing room was what the training rooms were turned into after the tributes were marked, they had everything pre-prepared and then they spent two days bringing in everything so that when the Games began, the Mentors and the other Victors who attended the games could watch in comfort. The previously dull, workout room had been transformed into a large lounge, with a bar, couches, and a large TV to watch the live footage that every citizen of Panem saw. The big difference though was the fact that each armchair had a small television that popped out of the armrest that could be used for Mentors to watch their tributes, all someone had to do was select one of the remaining tributes from the drop down list and the video would automatically change to them on the screen. This was why all the victors were so close, in this room they witnessed unspeakable actions that reminded them all of what they had done, and what they were capable of. They united to comfort a mentor when their Tribute was killed, and then as Haymitch and Chaff had proven was the best way to hide grief, they tended to get drunk together quite often. They were off camera in here, Beetee had long ago set up a scrambler to jam the frequencies of any spy cameras the Capitol was using, so it was here they complained about what the Capitol made them do to keep up their image, and occasionally if they were drunk enough to get stupid, they'd plot President Snow's death and downfall at great length. Sure there were Peacekeepers at the door but it had been a very long time since they'd managed to find one who wasn't petrified enough by them to keep their mouths shut if threatened.

But now it was time that the Victors united to comfort one of their own, as Xandra looked at the screen in horror, blinking again and again trying to process what she had just seen. Ike, her tribute, who they all knew she'd been somewhat attached to, had just been killed by the District One boy. The other mentors were looking at her in sympathy, worried about how she would react, Xandra had never been one for... processing death calmly. Especially when they all knew that she had liked this tribute in particular. They were all gathered together, watching the games, concentrating on helping their tributes, but now Xandra turned very slowly to Aurora and Jet, anger burning in her eyes.

But before Xandra could move, Aurora pointed directly at Jet and said, 'He was taking care of Orion, not me,' before moving sideways.

She moved just in time to avoid getting struck as Xandra lunged at Jet, one hand grasping his throat, the other smacking hard into his face, 'You little shit!' she roared.

Again and again her fists smashed into Jet's face, and none of the other mentors did anything to get in her way, even as the peacekeeper tried to tear her off, they couldn't, 'You little bastard, you're freaking tribute is a homicidal maniac! I should have killed you when I got the chance before you could rub off on him! I should have known that he would turn out like you!'

The Peacekeepers tried to intervene, attempting to pull her off as Jet struggled trying to get free of Xandra, neither could break her grip and Jet honestly seemed on the verge of passing out when a Peacekeeper pulled out a stun-gun to restrain her. But the fight was then broken up by a very unsurprised looking Finnick, walked over and he pulled Xandra straight off.

Xandra angrily tried to worm her way out of his grip, but he simply began walking her backwards before dumping her unceremoniously on a chair and then sat on top of her, 'Get off me Odair!' she raged.

'No,' he said simply.

At this point a very drunk Chaff and Haymitch were making cracks to each other usually involving the phrase, "O-dair you are!" But everyone else were simply watching like they were either expecting a show, weren't surprised in the slightest, or were a little bit worried.

'Get off me!'

'No,' he repeated.

'She's going to stab you if you don't get off her Finnick,' Joel commented.

'Are you sure about that?' Finnick questioned amusedly, but as Xandra hit him hard enough in the back to make him flinch, 'Oh for god's sake, calm down, you don't have to work with the moron.'

'You don't like either of your tributes; you don't even care what happens to them! And now one of mine is dead because of that bastard's protégée.'

'Oh please you know just as well as I do that he wasn't going to get out in the first place,' he said repositioning himself so he was pretty much lounging on top of her as she struggled to get free.

'That's what I told you about Annie, and yet she still got out because you were being stubborn,' Xandra hissed.

Finnick threw himself to his feet, turning to her anger burning in his bright sea green eyes, 'That was a low blow.'

'No it wasn't,' Xandra said and then kicked him hard in the stomach so he went flying back and knocked over a peace keeper, 'That was a low blow.'

But when she got to her feet she glared directly at Jet and said, 'Who's he protecting? He said he was protecting someone.'

'Told you she'd calm down,' Finnick hissed to Joel as he helped him to his feet, who smirked and rolled his remaining eye.

Jet was rubbing his throat but he still sourly snapped at her, 'Like I know, Orion is the biggest pain of a tribute you can have, he does the complete opposite of what I say. This seems to be the first time he's doing something I'd want him to do.'

'Who was he protecting?!' Xandra yelled.

'If you're that angry I'd say it was your other tribute,' Aurora said casually.

'What makes you think that?' Xandra hissed, whipping round to face her, still appearing angry with Aurora.

'Oh this note I found in his trash apparently he vowed he'd protect her to that boyfriend of hers that she threw into a wood chipper,' Aurora said casually pulling it out of her sleeve.

'You went through his trash?' Jet demanded as Xandra snatched the note off her.

'Well I knew he was up to something when he didn't split off from the career pack the moment he saw his lil' girlfriend looting Rupert's body, hell he was staring at her like the world could have stopped moving and he wouldn't have even noticed,' Aurora said very casually, flicking a piece of imaginary dirt off her sleeve, 'Thus I rooted through his room, his trash and stuff and found that-'

'Toby...' Xandra said her voice strained.

'What about the kid?' Aurora asked, much to Jet's obvious displeasure.

'If Lyra can pull herself together, then I might be able to use this to my advantage, I can get her out,' Xandra said, 'I'm going to have to make a quick call, if anyone here says a word against Ike, then I'm going to slug them, hard. And yes Enobaria, I'm looking at you.'

...

She was running for over an hour when she heard the music, the eerie tune of the Capitol Anthem was blasting through the arena, breaking the cold silence. She couldn't see the sky though through the thick netting of the trees that surrounded her. She needed to know who was dead, so she could go look for Ike, she couldn't leave him alone in the arena, especially if he'd killed someone, he wouldn't be able to handle it. So, dumping her packs on the ground, she scaled a tree, delludedly humming along to the anthem under her breath. Lyra wasn't stupid by any stretch of the imagination, she knew in her head that the chances of Ike being able to take out any of the careers was about a hundred to one, but her heart wouldn't let the thought that Ike could be dead enter her mind, she just couldn't process the thought, that she might have to keep going without Ike beside her, keeping her sane, encouraging her to keep on going.

But as she neared the top of the tree, she looked up, but that was when she saw the face in the sky. Ike was looking down on her. He seemed to stare directly at her, the heartbreak in his eyes from the day he had his photo taken, barely an hour after he was reaped; only seeming to intensify. But even as Lyra stared at the image of him, which only proved what she couldn't process, her hand slipped and she fell from the tree.

She landed flat on her stomach after a five meter drop, the melting snow softened her landing, but part of her wished it hadn't, part of her just wanted to join Ike in the sky. But that part of her was small, that was the part that had acknowledged what had happened, the rest was raging in denial. Ike could not be dead, no, he just couldn't be.

'No,' she whispered as she lay on the ground, but the moment the one syllable word passed through her lips, it didn't seem like enough, nothing seemed like enough anymore, nothing seemed like enough to expresses the raging and burning grief and denial that was pounding through her system like liquid fire, 'No. No. No. The universe has taken everything from me. They can't have Ike. No. No. No. No. NO!'

The last word passed through her lips in a colossal scream of anguish, but she just couldn't process it, she threw herself to her feet and she kept shouting and screaming, trying to vocalise the pain she felt, knowing in the small rational part of her brain that it was foolish to do so, but just being far too deep in denial to even care, 'No! He is not dead! He's not dead! He's not dead! No! No! No! He can't be dead! He's not dead! He's not dead! He's alive! He's alive! He has to be alive!'

But finally a sinking feeling ran through her, and the battle for processing the information, and denying it began in her brain. She had thrown herself to her feet, screaming at the world, but now she dropped to her knees, shivering not from cold but from fear, and was positively quaking in a few seconds, she clutched at the ground, still muttering over and over again the single word "no" but within a few minutes, the truth was overcoming the hopeless fantasy that wrapped around her brain to try to protect from the archaic reality that she was soon to realise, had indeed just happened.

'Ike...'

His name came out as a strangled whisper, but suddenly her breathing slowed, and she kept sucking in the frigid air like she'd just forgotten how to breathe, 'Oh my god...' she choked out, 'No...'

There was something almost haunting about the hopelessness that filled her voice and began filling her entire system replacing the liquid fire of denial with the cold grip of loss and desolation. And with a choked sound that was the final realisation that he was gone, tears pricked behind her eyelids, and before she could do anything to stop them, they began rolling down her face.

There is something all the more eerie then loud, raging sobs that rattle a person's ribcage and projects the inner turmoil and rage that is running through their system. It is the silence that comes after it when they have no more sobs, but plenty more tears, when they're just curled up in a little ball on the ground, absolutely still, frozen and unable to move, just hugging their knees, tears etching their way down their cheeks, dropping of their chin and onto their hands, not even seeming to stir the crier. The tears had drawn tracks through the dirt and frost that gathered on her face, and even as it slowly became warmer, and the snow melted slowly, water dripping from the branches of the trees like the tears that were running down her face. She slipped forward on the ice, she didn't release herself from her position, let alone open her eyes. It seemed that something in her had finally broken, shattered into a million pieces, unrepairable, something that even time wouldn't heal.

She just couldn't move.

Ike was dead.

The one normal, consistent, non-threatening thing she had in her life was gone.

And now she was expected to keep on fighting.

To keep on living.

To keep on existing.

Without Ike.

...

Orion tossed and turned restlessly; unable to close his eyes and sleep. Every time his mind started to relax he saw Ike's betrayed, hurt face, he saw the blood, and he couldn't move the images from his mind. At last he gave up on sleep entirely and threw aside his blanket, stood up and walked away from the campsite. He left his katana where they lay in their cases, beside his discarded blanket. He couldn't bring himself to touch them, not at the moment anyway, not after what he had just done. He was afraid that if he picked them up again, someone else would die, and he just couldn't handle the idea of that right now.

He walked about thirty or so meters away from the camp, so he was fully out of sight and ear shot, he knew Lilith always fell asleep on watch but he didn't want them knowing he was feeling guilt for something all of them had done and regarded as boring or fun. Before he sat down heavily on a frost covered, collapsed tree-trunk and rested his head in his hands. He knew that he was being watched from somewhere, so he didn't dare let out any of the emotion which was boiling through him and tried to remain calm.

It was only a few minutes later when he heard something, a soft coo and a rustle of branches, that could have been mistaken for a bird call. He looked up slowly just in time for Astra to land softly about three meters away. Her large green eyes gazed at him and he saw what looked like disappointment and sadness reflected in her eyes. She seemed on guard, but at the same time she seemed to be looking directly into his sole. She knew what he had done.

'Ike's dead,' she said bluntly.

'I know,' he said quietly, unable to look at her.

'You killed him.'

'…Yes,' he barely managed to get the word out of his mouth.

'Why?' He looked up at her as she asked the question and saw that she was watching him, looking so disappointed, like he had let her down and crushed her hopes.

Maybe she had thought he was different, and all he had done was prove that he might as well be the same. He couldn't answer her so he just looked down at the ground and sighed. There were tears filling his eyes but he pushed them down.

She asked again, 'Why did you kill him? What possible reason could you have? Ike would never have hurt you-'

'I know,' he interrupted but she barely even seemed to process his words, she just seemed to get angry.

'Then why? Why would you kill someone who trusted you?' her eyes were burning with such rage that he had never seen before, and part of him realized that she thought he would have done the same thing to her if the situation had been reversed.

Orion just continued to look at the ground, unable to face her, knowing that she was staring at him, expecting an answer. He could feel how let down she felt because he knew that she had trusted him and he had betrayed her trust. But at the same time he knew that he had betrayed many more trusts then just Astra's, he'd let down the trust he had as who he was as a person. He'd counted himself different as all the generations of his family that there had been before, not realising that he indeed was the same.

'For a similar reason why I haven't told the careers that you're following us. I made a promise, to someone who I can't name, to protect someone. And I don't break promises.'

'So you killed Ike to protect someone? Who were you protecting?'

'I can't tell you Astra, no one can know it puts them in danger,' Orion just looked away again and sighed, 'It was wrong, you don't have to tell me that because I know it already. But yes, I did it to protect someone else from harm, and I couldn't let them be hurt or killed. But at the same time as I'm saying this I know can't try to justify anything of what I just did, because I know in my heart, that there is no real justification for murder, there is no justification for what I have just done. But I plan to fulfil the promise's I made to the best of my ability.'

Astra just watched him, and sympathy slowly leaked into her forest green eyes. She came up beside him and rested a hand on his shoulder, but he lightly shrugged her off.

'I have to go. If they notice that I'm gone… they might come looking for me and find you and I can't let that happen.'

Orion slowly got to his feet, setting his face once again in its emotionless mask, despite the feelings of self-loathing and guilt that were tearing at his insides, but Astra stopped him, pulling on his hand, and he slowly turned to face her, his eyes hollow as he looked at her, but she just looked into his eyes with the same look that always seemed to get passed his walls and meant she always knew what he was thinking.

'You're a good guy Orion; you aren't a mindless tool of your district or the Capitol. You don't kill without reason, I know you won't Orion, I know you just couldn't.'

'How can you know that when I'm not even sure?' he whispered to her, his heart practically splitting as he looked at her.

'I just know,' she said simply, and much to his surprise she leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, before whispering, 'I have faith in you Orion, don't let me down.'

She was flushing bright pink, but she turned on her heel and climbed back up a tree. And after a long moment of staring after her, he returned to the camp.

**...Ah... Don't hurt us?**

_*Ducks* please... stop throwing throwing tomatoes at us!_

***Uses Ally as a shield* Oh come on, we maintain our right to write what we choose!**_  
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_Wait? What? Hey, I'm not a riot shield *ducks behind Selina* Don't kill us. We have our reasons! *ducks under another tomato* now wait just a minute..._

***Pushes Ally away and runs for the bomb shelter* Call it artistic integrity! *Leaps watermelon before it can trip her***_  
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_*Dives into bomb shelter just after Selina* Phew, that was a close one!_

***Barricades trap door and curls up in a little ball* So hi readers... we know you're not happy with this turn of events, but we hope you'll keep reading after this.**_  
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_Yes, please do! We love you all!_

**And we need some feedback, our review count has been going down, and it's been affecting our self esteem, I'm not saying that when you don't review it makes us do bad things to our characters... but it might be a slight factor.**_  
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_He he?_

**Well we're spending the night in the bomb shelter, but please do review!**_  
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**~Selina**

_Ally :)_


	22. Aftershocks

_*Peeks out from behind door of bomb shelter* Psst, Selina, I think the coast is clear!_

**...I'm not moving... they might be hiding waiting to jump us.**

_*checks again* hang on, yup, you're right! They're right there! *Dives back into bomb shelter*_

**Told ya. We know you're upset with us, but you have to understand, we had to kill Ike at some stage, and if we let him live any longer, we might not have been capable of doing it, and as for Orion killing him... well... we have our reasons, none of which will satisfy you so there's not much of a point in trying to justify it. Shall we do the reviews Ally?**

_Yes, Selina we shall do reviews._

**There there Kat-Rue, please don't cry! We know that it's sad but we just had to do it!**

_Hiya Hungergamezluver! Look about Ike, it was nothing personal *nervous laughter* we loved him dearly and you're right, Lest We Forget. Now, why doesn't Orion join Lyra and Astra? Simple, because he is…and now to quote Lyra…and egg-head. We hope that you'll continue reading our story even though we killed off a favourite. We love you dearly._

**...Ah hi Loopy... Sorry about the whole catatonic state thing... we didn't realise it was that... i don't have a word for it... I'm sorry! Don't hurt us! And please keep reviewing! "SHUT UP BARBIE NO ONE CARES!" made my week so, please keep tuning in... and please don't kill us. We don't want to see the rein of infinite terror.**

_Hello to you too Shimmeringbubbles my dear. I hope you managed to complete your history assignment on time. Yes, we do agree with you that Astra can be a tad clueless at times, but after all, it's what makes her so adorable and loveable. Could Orion get any cuter? Well he might…but I shall not spoil anything! And of course you're not developing a crush on him Bubbles, of course you're not. You want us to drive them mad? Okay then…you shall have to wait and see. Muhaha! We love your long reviews, have no fear. _

**Patronus Floo, kick ass name for the record, and as for why... it's like a Fred thing, no matter what the reasons the author gives, he readers are still going to be pissed off.**

_Why thank you Little Owl! Thank you very much. Yes, we're working on those, thank you so much for the feedback! _

**Wetstar, sorry, it's Ike.**

_Hi LyzeeAnne! Sorry we made you cry! Yes, it's Shimmer, (weird name for a weird girl) You're right, we all do love Ike! Thank you for your reviews, and hopefully you are no longer sad. _

**I'm going to have to meet this sister of yours RavenclawTribute, anyone whose got resemblance to Lyra is awesome in my book. Oh! I'm sure Ike met him, and I'm positive that he's probably teaching him how to make bear traps because well... it's Ike, it's what he does.**

_Thank gosh indeed Poke! Thank gosh indeed! It is a good thing that Lyra has good instincts. Yes, Astra may not always act smart, but there are a few brain cells lurking behind those butterflies and rainbows. Yes…we killed him…we're sorry Poke! We really are! Please don't kill us! And yes, Orion had to do it…again, sorry about that. We agree profoundly on the poor Lyra bit. Hopefully this chapter lives up to your expectations Poke! We love you! _

**Guest, we updated soon enough! Would have been sooner but Ally has exams right now.**

_Sorry Courts, we couldn't kill off Greg just yet. And no, that doesn't sound bad, we like your way of thinking (although we were still sad when we had to say goodbye to Ike). But no, unfortunately it wasn't Greg. Hopefully this chapter pleases you!_

**Hunger Games Fangirl, interesting list, we'll see what we can do, but we aren't able to make any promises on who does and doesn't come out of it alive.**

_Now onto the chapter Selina?_

**I think that's enough gobble for us. Onwards and upwards!**

Chapter 22: Aftershocks

Lyra was still curled in her little ball, she had no tears left by now, but she just couldn't move. Ike was gone, and now she had to live on without him. How was she supposed to do that when she could barely breathe? It was a chilled but bright morning, the sun filtering through the trees, dappling what was left of the snow and she was drenched from head to toe by the melted snow. It had gotten warmer since Ike had been killed, but she was still chilled to the bone because she was unwilling to let the sun's warmth do anything to comfort her.

She was curled in her little cocoon, covered in fallen leaves. The water that covered her had long since drenched her clothes and frost was forming but she didn't even appear to notice let alone care. She just remained curled up, not moving, not opening her eyes, barely even breathing. When Ike had left this world, he'd taken part of Lyra with him, and it didn't seem likely that he was going to give it back any time soon.

...

Orion wet his lips nervously as he watched as the other Careers grinned and laughed uproariously as they found new tracks. They were rather obvious, clearly the person hadn't been clever enough to hide their tracks. Orion had noticed the tracks over half an hour ago but had deliberately not said anything, but he hadn't managed to do anything to divert them off the track of the next victim. They were currently arguing over who got to kill the next one. Orion who had killed only the night before was ruled out quickly, Seir who had two victims to himself was ruled out next but he seemed disappointed and Botis seemed absolutely furious when he was taken out of the running for the same reason. This left the girls arguing over who got to make the next kill. Kali insisted that she had the right because she'd only been able to kill one person so far and it hadn't been much of a challenge in the slightest. Lilith insisted it was her right because her way of killing was the most gruesome and she hadn't gotten any action in the bloodbath. In the end Shimmer eventually won because she said that she hadn't been able to kill someone without a reason to yet, that her kill had been to help Orion and as such, she hadn't been able to show her more brutal side yet, and she also wanted to show off how sexy she could look shooting someone. With that said, Shimmer winked slyly at Orion, who gave her a blank look, and then turned to Botis and asked;

'Are there any brick walls nearby or am I going to have to use a tree?'

Botis looked around boredly for a few seconds then pointed to a nearby tree, and Orion noted that it was probably the thickest trunked tree within a hundred meter radius. He began slamming his head against the trunk, which earned him a glare from Shimmer and laughter from everyone else. But after a minute Shimmer grabbed Orion by the collar, and calling to the other careers started following the tracks, practically dragging Orion with her. He shook her off with ease, and dropped back a bit so he was at the tail of the group. He was already feeling ill, someone else was going to die, and if Shimmer wanted to show off her brutal side, it wasn't going to be pleasant what she did to them. To give his mind something to do he took another look at the tracks and noted that it would have to be a male, as none of the girls left would have left such deep tracks and he'd noticed a difference in the shape of the boots they'd been given. This meant that, thankfully, they weren't hunting down Astra or Lyra, if it was Shimmer shooting at them; he doubted he could do anything to protect them; she was just too much of a good shot.

But he decided to relay this information to the other careers, it wasn't like he could save them anyway, and he felt like he just couldn't sit around doing nothing, as he knew that his lack of enthusiasm towards this was probably putting him in danger, 'Judging from the tracks it's a boy,' he said roughly.

Kali turned, 'How can you tell?'

'Shape of the boot, plus the depth of the tracks. Outside our group there are only four left, but seeing as Greg, the guy from eight is still on the west side, chances are this is either Farrow, Basil or Horace the guys from nine, ten and eleven,' he relayed.

'Funny how we haven't picked off the boys from the later districts yet, I don't think we've taken down any of their partners either,' Seir said boredly.

'You decapitated the girl from nine in the bloodbath, Chance Masatofe, don't you remember her?' Orion said disgust entering his tone no matter how much he tried to stop it, which only increased when Seir shrugged at him, 'You don't even remember who the person you killed was? You can't even remember her name or where she was from?'

'What's the point of getting attached?' Seir and Kali said in sync, although both of them were looking suspicious at his words, and Seir continued by himself, voice a dangerous hiss, 'Where are you going with this Orion?'

'Nowhere, don't worry about it,' he said darkly, but he was so angry that he was almost shaking. He knew it was unwise to try to argue with Seir, he could almost hear his father as well as Jet yelling at him to suck it up as they watched him vindicate the victims of the career pack.

Suddenly Shimmer held up her hand motioning for all of them to be quiet, she must have spotted her target. Orion looked around the careers so he could see Basil Pulman; the slight boy from District Eleven was sitting on a log, a knife at his hip, eating from a berry bush next to him. He licked his lips, seeming to enjoy the taste, not realising how much of a target he was becoming. Shimmer had already selected her arrow, knocked it to her bowstring and drew it back, her eyes squinting for a second as she double checked her aim and elevation. And that was when she loosed the arrow.

Out of sheer dumb luck and coincidence, Basil had turned to get another berry, just in time to miss what would have been a fatal blow and the arrow struck him in the shoulder blade. He roared in pain, getting up to run, but there was no point. Shimmer bounded down to where he was and sweeping the feet out from under him she put one booted foot on his throat, and shot him full force in between the eyes, execution style, and made the cannon sound loudly almost instantly. A large amount of blood and brain matter and what he could only guess was sections from his eyes, splurged out and landed on Shimmer's shoe. She wrinkled her nose in distaste, and wiped it off on Basil's shirt. Then turned and waved to the other careers.

'Well that was fun,' she remarked.

Orion followed the other careers over to her to inspect the corpse, and even as Shimmer tossed her hair and smiled. Kali and Lilith smirked at the body and congratulated Shimmer, while Seir and Botis both looked approving and Seir even clapped her on the back. Shimmer turned to him, almost puckering like she was asking for a victory kiss; he took one look at her, one final glance at the body, and then turned on his heel and started banging his head against a nearby tree. Shimmer looked disgusted, offended and downright furious and both Botis and Lilith burst out laughing, how they still found it funny after the millions of times he's started doing it he had no idea, but Kali and Seir were giving him a clearly… non-approving look, they were getting suspicious, this wasn't going to go down well. They clearly realised that what he had done was mostly so he wouldn't have to look at the dead body which had actually made him almost throw up.

Hoping to find some way to make them less suspicious of him, he looked around for inspiration, which made him notice something else. More tracks. He studied them for a second, then turned back to the careers whilst brushing the dust from the tree from his forehead, looking anywhere but the remains of the body, and forcing his voice to stay firm, he told them.

'There are more tracks over there,' he said pointing, 'they're too big to be his, and, judging from the look of them, they must have come through here yesterday morning maybe, long before he showed up.'

There was another loud whoop from the pack and Lilith and Botis and Kali and Seir all went in the direction he indicated, scouring the ground for more tracks. Shimmer sent one last withering glare in his direction and followed. Then Orion realised what he had just done. He had just sentenced someone else to a death as painful as Basil's must have been, he felt the vomit rising in his throat but forced himself to push it back down, and spat forcefully to remove the flavour from his mouth. He tried desperately not to look back as he began to move away from the bush, he just wasn't cut out for this at all and he would admit that freely. He couldn't handle that he'd killed Ike, he couldn't handle the sight of someone killed in such cold blood as Basil had been, and he couldn't handle knowing he as good as killed the person that he'd just sent the careers after. Not for the first or last time he cursed himself for volunteering. He groaned softly to himself and shook his head before forcing himself step by step to follow after the careers.

'Icky,' remarked a voice from behind him, causing him to jump and turn around.

He could see Astra again, picking up Basil's pack from next to the log, and shivering as she looked at the mess Shimmer had made. And for the millionth time, he wanted to run to her side and join her, but he just couldn't seem to find the courage to do so, not yet anyway. And forcing his face once more into the unreadable mask, he plodded after the careers, hoping that they wouldn't turn back and see Astra.

…

It was late, very late, but Astra was still awake, still thinking over what Orion had done, what he had said yesterday. She knew he'd had his reasons, but she still didn't understand. Who was he protecting? Why was he protecting them? Who'd asked him to do it? And if he'd meant what he'd said, then why had he gone and helped the careers by putting them on the track of another tribute so quickly? Her mind was ringing with ideas and theories when she heard the voices. She could have sworn that all the careers were asleep except for Seir who was on watch, but when she looked down she could only see four curled figures, Shimmer, Lilith, Botis and Orion. Kali and Seir weren't there.

She moved through the trees, being very careful not to make too much noise, till she was near them, and that's when she heard them clearly for the first time. Her heart dropped to her feet when she heard what they were talking about. They were discussing Orion and it didn't sound friendly.

'He killed the guy from seven, are you sure that he's up to something?'

'Positive,' Seir said, 'Can't you see it? He clearly can't handle what he did, he's been out of it all day, he's been twitching, jumpy, constantly running into Botis. Think about it Kali, he can barely hold it together knowing that he killed someone. Chances are that he felt like he had to do it.'

'I understand that, but since when does someone from a career district have any hesitation about what they're doing, he volunteered after all,' Kali whispered.

'I don't know, but we have to watch him.'

'If you're so paranoid about him, then why don't you just let me walk over to him now and slit his puny throat?' Kali asked irritably.

'Because it would upset Shimmer. We can't have that, she's still useful, and he's leading us after a tribute as we speak. I don't notice any of the tiny little things he picks up until he points them out to me, so far he's useful but at the same time, he's up to something.'

'Like what?'

'Who knows,' Seir shrugged, 'He might be wrapped up in some conspiracy with the girls from seven and ten, they were together on the hovercraft here, holding hands like their lives depended on it.'

'He killed seven's district partner though, she liked him, and he was helping the District Ten girl in training.'

'Which is why he'd be the perfect person to kill to make us trust him. Besides, it would explain why he's feeling so guilty about it. He got on well with the kid from seven, I could tell.' Seir pointed out.

'The little bastard... I don't understand why we can't just kill him now Seir?'

'Once again, Shimmer, she's a pain now so imagine what she would be like if we killed him off. She's too much of an asset not to keep around until the last moment possible.'

'I agree, especially if the girl from seven is wrapped up in a conspiracy with Orion, then the only thing that could take her out especially if she's got that set of throwing knives is and arrow. We saw how good at martial arts she is from that little 'game' she and Orion had in training. Quite honestly, she's deadly. We need Shimmer to take her out from a distance, but we've only seen a glimpse of her, a glimpse that we couldn't confirm, I'm only guessing because of how high up she was, since the games started. And now I think about it, we haven't seen the girl from District Ten either. Do you think Orion's trying to keep us off their trail to protect them? It would explain why he's with us instead of them. He likes them that much is obvious, and because Orion and that girl are so capable, if they are up to something, it could potentially be very problematic.'

'The girl from ten is a flea, she wouldn't be helpful,' Seir said haughtily.

'I wouldn't be so certain, there's a bite behind her, she snapped the kid from twelve's neck in the blood bath by complete accident, which shows she's a lot stronger then she looks. Beside this whole little girl persona might be completely faked, it wouldn't be the first time that it's happened, I mean or god's sake, two years ago the games were won by that half-wit from District Seven because she convinced everyone she was a weakling. It could be the same strategy.'

'True... If we get near either of those girls we kill them, no matter the circumstances, and if Orion takes one more step out of line, then we kill him without hesitation. Are we agreed Kali?'

'Agreed!'

The two sounded so amused, so comfortable with their paranoia that it chilled Astra, who was still watching from the tree, to her very core. She had to warn Orion, she had to tell him that they were up to something, that they were going to kill him if he let his humanity show again. She had to get a message to him, somehow, she didn't know how but she had to do it.

She moved back through the trees again, so she was back, surveying the camp site. She looked down at Orion who was curled tightly underneath a blanket, hands resting loosely on the handles of his katana. She couldn't let him get hurt, she just couldn't let it happen.

...

It had been over eighteen hours since Lyra had moved a muscle. And for the first time since she'd stopped crying, she opened her eyes, blinking as light flooded into her eyes. It had only got colder since this morning, but now it only felt colder than ever before, but whether it had been from the sheer iciness or from the permanent chill in her soul knowing that Ike was gone, she wasn't sure. Her sapphire eyes blinked and drops of frozen ice fell onto her hands. As the light of the snow set her pale form glow, she began moving slightly. She almost seemed in a trance as she moved to her feet, slowly rubbing her hands together as if she could get some warmth back into her frozen fingers. A fine mist seeped from her mouth as she took a single breath in and out and then almost seemed to not even know what she was doing, she started running and running.

She moved faster and faster through the snow, not seeming to pause or hesitate, and she ran further and further until she reached the base of the mountain. But she didn't even stop then, she just kept running like her existence depended on it. She climbed and climbed and climbed, bounding up the cliff sides, slipping and sliding as she climbed up the icy surfaces, not pausing until she got to a high cliff, far above anyone else in the arena, and then she did the one thing that seemed to release everything from her system, she just started screaming.

It was loud, it was crazy, and it was piercing. The entire arena could hear her, and the entire capitol, and as the televisions focused on her, the whole of Panem heard her. Tears broke through the ice gathered on her tear ducts. If this had been a normal mountainside, it would have started an avalanche, but it wasn't. It wasn't real; it had been created by the Capitol for their own purposes. And that much disgusted her

'This is wrong!' she yelled, 'This isn't real! This is fake and it's synthetic and it's not natural! I'm not going to die in this nightmare you've set up to test me! I'm not going to die as a pawn in this game of yours! I'm going to live on! You can't get rid of me! I'll have vengeance on Ike's killer! I don't know who did it, but they will die! They don't deserve to live! Anyone who could kill someone like Ike doesn't deserve to exist in this world no matter how fake!'

The whole of Panem had stopped, as they stared at her, 'You can't get rid of me! I'm going to live! No one can stop me! No one! Can you hear me?! I know you can hear me! You can't make me go away, I'm going to win! I'm going to win! I'm going to win for Ike! I will not let his death happen in vane! I'm going to win this stupid, twisted little game of yours! Do you hear that Capitol?! Do you hear me?!'

She was still yelling, the rage contorting her face, the grief twisting at her heart and mind, 'Do you even realise what you've taken from this world!? An innocent, young life, he had so much ahead of him and you…you had him killed! Think about the parents who lost a child! Think about his three five year old sisters who are never going to know him! Think about that! Do you realise that he had a girlfriend?! A girl that he had no idea how to tell her that he loved her! He was loved by everyone he ever came into contact with, he was kind to everyone, he encouraged life and happiness and made people who doubted everything feel like they were worth a damn! You're going to regret this! Taking him away from me! From us! From this universe! You're going to regret this! You can't stop me! I live on in his name! No one will get in my way!'

Almost like it was a direct challenge, a large spider mutation crawled out of the cave behind her, and lunged for her, but Lyra didn't even seem to need to see it, before she jumped off the cliff. She landed on another ledge five meters below her, landing with an almost freaky amount of stability, before she began running again; she hadn't even seemed to notice the spider, as she ran far too fast for it to catch her. She just ran and ran and ran, as if running was the only thing that could make it better, only stopping when the Capitol anthem started blasting through the arena and she saw the face of Basil in the sky. She nodded softly, and blew a kiss to the stars, marking his death, respecting his memory. She didn't know him but he was gone, and she knew one more obstacle was out of her way. She was determined to win, and as she climbed a tree to get some rest, tears began running down her face.

Yes Ike was gone. No she couldn't forgive or forget what had happened, or those who had anything to do with it. But she lived to fight another day. She was not going to let this finish her. She was going to do whatever it took to survive.

It was too painful for her to think about what she had lost but it was too painful and too dangerous to dwell on Ike's death. If she wanted to live on to take care of what he had wanted her to do if he died then she'd have to survive. She put her heart in a box then and there, she could grieve later, she could be hurt and angry later, but she needed to survive now. She needed to do whatever it took to survive.

So she started thinking logically about her situation. Logic was soothing. Comforting almost. She thought long and hard about each dangerous player's weakness. Shimmer's vanity, Kali and Seir's need to think as one, Lilith's emotionlessness, Botis's pride and Greg's lack of proper training. They could be handled, one by one, alone. But a single phrase from mere hours before Ike's death slipped into her mind:

"I was just making sure I hadn't lost you in these games."

She began crying again, the box around her heart had cracks no matter how hard she tried to block it out. And once again she questioned if she was capable of killing someone. And forcing herself to suck it up and bite back her tears, she started thinking through the things she was sure of. She knew it was far too dangerous in a game featuring a hunting pack of six people all with more training then she had ever had, and a madman who was trying to find someone to torture to death for their own sick entertainment. It meant she needed another ally; she needed someone to fight with her. She needed the one other person who like Ike, had never been able to see the bad in her no matter how obvious it was to everyone else.

She was going to have to find where Astra had gotten to.

**...Lyra's got issues, doesn't she?**

_Well, can you blame her? And Shimmer is so mean!_

**DIE BARBIE NO ONE WANTS YOU! *cough cough* to paraphrase our slightly insane reviewer... Yeah poor Basil, shot twice and Shimmer thinks it's fun.**

_Grrr...and don't forget Kali and Seir! Knifing little...grr!_

**Easy puppy child. Dear readers, we promise you, that if you keep reading and keep reviewing, we'll try our best to put off killing brilliant characters for as long as possible. So please keep going with us, remember, we don't do anything without reason.**

_So read, review but of course, most importantly enjoy!_

**We love you all!**

**~Selina**

_We hope to hear from you as well. Lots of love. And may the force be with you!_

_Ally :)_


	23. Family Traditions

**Um... Hi?**

****_We're back...hee hee?_

**I BLAME HER FOR US NOT UPDATING!**_  
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****_Just chuck me right in the deep end why don't you? It is my fault though, I was away and I had exams. You can come and hunt me down if you like._

**But don't, because I refuse to write this without her, and if you could see what we have planned, you're going to kill me as well, especially when you hit Chapter 24...**_  
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****_Oh this is going to be interesting..._

**Well, anyway, onto the reviews:**_  
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**Earthling 44 (formerly known as Ravenclawtribute) We sure would love your sister, I mean really, if she's as much like Lyra as you say she is then I would be her best friend forever and ever, sorry Ally.**

****_Greenpokeguy: Yes, Lyra's ventilation system is interesting. And her screaming is likely to get her into more trouble yet. We totally agree with Die Barbie Die. Orion sane? Are you sure? As for what Astra is collecting...well, what isn't she? _

__**Hunger Games Luver: The screaming is the only way for her to vent, but then again, that might not end well. Orion's gonna do his best to watch out for them, and Astra and Lyra might take a little while to find each other, just warning you about that. Oh and as for Zero Hour... we're working on that... slowly.**

****_Wetstar: Plenty more of those lines coming up. Orion and careful don't belong in the same sentence I'm afraid. Lyra needed a way to vent but yeah, not a good idea. _

__**Kat-rue: YAY SHE'S MOVING! Well, we can't promise anything concerning Orion... Oh stop it, you're making us blush!**

****_LyzeeAnne: I think that you're a bit too much like me for anyone's liking...Hi five!_

**Hunger-games-fangirl: Oh you think she's not sane now? Wait till our next chapter, then you'll se insane.**_  
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****_Shimmering Bubbles: Siyohochoi indeed. Sure Bubbles sure, we believe you. Shimmer is one who we love to hate, it's fun. Yay! We agree that Kali and Seir are a little on the creepy side. Yes, we all cry with Lyra. As for Astra and Lyra teaming up...well we will just have to wait and see. _

**CiaraMarie96: Ooh camping! Hopefully it wasn't Hunger Games style. That's what's brilliant about updating chapter by chapter, you can make it up as you go along, and trust me, more unpredictableness is soon to come.**_  
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****_ClamKidToTheRescue: First things first. I love your name! Yes, we aim to make Orion sweet, Astra funny and Lyra awesome. We're glad that you're enjoying it. _

__**Courts: Well in answer to your first question... now... sorry... I blame Ally. Lyra isn't someone to plan ahead exactly... she knows it's stupid, that doesn't mean it's going to stop her doing it, she has nothing left to lose and that makes her dangerous. She will don't worry... And as for the killing thing... well we can't do that quite yet...**

**ON TO THE CHAPTER!**

Chapter 23: Family Traditions

Lyra woke the next morning to hear a slow beeping nearby, the sound annoyed her, why did that have to be what woke her up? Something about it was just plain irritating, but realising she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep anyway, she sat up, starting to wonder what today was going to bring. It wasn't as freezing as it had been, but it was still cold, but seeing how quickly the temperature fell in here, she didn't trust it. She folded her blanket up and put it into her bag. She doubted any of the other tributes were used to a temperature like this, but growing up in District Seven, which was right in the mountains, in the middle of winter, with no heating, meant that Lyra was used to it by now.

It wasn't overly cold now, she was making herself adjust, and until it started snowing again she wasn't going to start putting on more layers. Part of her considered that the Capitol might just blizzard her right now for even thinking about that, but she shrugged it off, she could last long enough in a blizzard to put a blanket around herself.

The beeping was continuing though, which still annoyed her, but then she looked around for its source, and that was when she saw the silver parachute dangling a container in the tree. Lyra breathed in relief, Xandra had sent her something, and she cracked open the container. She nearly had a spasm of joy and relief when she caught a whiff of what was inside, and she removed the bottle of apple juice from the container and began drinking it in relief. She'd developed a small obsession with the stuff while in the Capitol, and oddly, it calmed her down and almost heightened her senses at the same time.

Xandra hadn't sent her anything so far, well up until now there'd been no need to, but even as Lyra finished her drink and removed the steaming hot chicken dish that Xandra had sent with it, Lyra still didn't notice the note. She ate quickly, enjoying the heat that she got off her meal, but when she went rooting back through the container hoping there was more, her fingers curled around the little piece of paper, embossed with the District Seven symbol. She undid the seal and unfolded it and read the message inside:

_I'm so sorry about Ike, I know how close you two were, but the Capitol is swarming to sponsor you, they didn't hear your whole rant but they know you're determined to win. Whatever you need Lyra, just ask. Be careful, think it through, don't lose yourself -X_

Lyra nodded slowly, before saying quietly, 'Don't worry Xandra, I'm doing what I can. Now if someone could tell me where the heck Astra has gotten to that would be more helpful.'

But a slight, teeth chattering voice drew her attention to a nearby tree, 'If you give me one of those blankets, I'll tell you.'

...

Orion hadn't slept all night, well not properly anyway, the memory of what he'd done to Ike was haunting him, and it didn't help that Kali and Seir were always watching him, always. He knew that they were suspicious of him, heck they had been from day one, but he'd hoped that seeing as he'd made a kill, no matter how much he regretted it, they'd leave him alone.

He felt a slight kick to the small of his back, which made him grunt slightly and he rolled over to look up at Kali, whose brown eyes were fixated on him, a creepily wide smile spread across her face, 'What?' he muttered.

'Get up, I'm cold,' she said the smile not wavering.

'And is that my fault?' he muttered still not properly awake even though he'd never been to sleep.

'Build a fire, now.'

'Learn to build one yourself,' he muttered before turning away from her.

Almost instantly he felt a knife press against his throat, 'Want to rephrase that?' Kali asked sweetly.

'Whatever you say Kali,' he muttered knowing she would have no hesitation to kill him if he said no.

He begrudgingly got up and started making a fire, and the sudden scent of smoke very quickly woke Seir up, who instantly asked, 'Where's the tribute?'

'Relax Seir, no fun this morning,' Kali practically purred, 'I just wanted Orion to make a fire.'

'No! I can't eat that it has carbs in it!' Shimmer moaned loudly in her sleep.

'Oh shut up!' Kali yelled at Shimmer's sleeping form, who simply rolled over, and curled deeply into her blankets, giggling weirdly.

Orion couldn't help but mutter under his breath, 'Why did I have to get stuck with that thing as my district partner?'

'Interesting,' Kali mused.

'If you knew she was going for it why the heck did you volunteer?' Seir hissed.

'Because I didn't think her reflexes were that good,' Orion said trying to come up with a suitable excuse other than he hadn't meant to volunteer in the first place, and then proceeded to mutter under his breath, 'Never wanted to be here anyway.'

He had forgotten how ridiculously sharp Kali and Seir's hearing was because both of them instantly latched onto what Orion said, 'Excuse me?!' Kali demanded.

'Um...'

'You don't want to be here? Seriously? You volunteered to be here, which means you want to be here.'

'Not necessarily I mean... family, it sucks, you two never had that did you?' he asked then realised the stupidity of what he just said, they were going to murder him.

Kali was reaching for her knife, anger burning in her eyes before Seir grabbed her shoulder and gave her a look that seemed to entirely calm her down, and Seir said, 'So what? I know your parents were victors, but really would they care?'

'Mum not so much, Dad, oh yeah,' he said before entirely realising what he was saying.

'Pushy?'

'And family tradition, if I win, I'm a forth generation victor- oops...'

'Forth generation?!' Seir spat out, looking completely stunned and a little bit nervous.

'...Well...'

'Well what?!' Kali shrieked.

'Ah... look at that, is that how much fire wood we have left? I'm going to go get some more!'

He was only half way to his feet when a knife missed his head by three centimetres, 'Forth generation!? Explaining!' Kali yelled.

'Well uh... My father won the forty ninth... My grandfather won the twenty sixth and then... my great grandfather... well he was the first victor... uh... Can I go get fire wood now?'

Kali and Seir exchanged completely horrified expressions before Seir said, 'Go!'

Orion couldn't hear what they were whispering to each other when he left the campsite, he just knew it wasn't good.

...

_'She's been stalking the careers?' Lyra demanded loudly, 'Stalking them?'_

_'And stealing the packs from their victims,' Ursula added as she curled into the blanket, eating the scraps of dried meat Lyra had given her, but judging from her slight size, it was one of the very few proper nourishing things she'd eaten since the games began._

_'Why on Earth would she do that?' Lyra hissed._

_'It's pretty smart when you think about it, she's not an idiot,' Ursula replied calmly, 'She has her own way of thinking, and as far as she's concerned, the best hiding place is the most obvious one, because no one would think to look there.'_

_'Do any of the careers have the slightest inclination that she's following them?' Lyra asked, concern lighting up her eyes._

_'Orion knows she's there, but he hasn't said anything, cares too much about her I guess, although that's not a surprise to anyone. The other careers don't have a clue; they've all had moments when they start looking around like they can feel her watching them but nothing concrete, they haven't seen her once. Orion notices them doing it and tends to distract them for a while,' Ursula said once again making it strange how well she thought through things at just fourteen._

_Ursula glanced up at her concerned expression, which made it clear how much Lyra's mother instinct was kicking in, 'She's safe Lyra, she's in the trees where she can't leave tracks for them to hunt her down from, she's loaded up with supplies and as long as she stays in the trees then she's just as safe as you are. Frankly I wish I'd thought of it.'_

_Lyra hesitated slightly before saying, '...It's such a complete and utter her thing to do, it's hide and seek psychology... oh Sweetie,' she shook her head softly._

_'I find it kind of nice that you call her sweetie constantly, even when she's not around,' Ursula said shaking her head and Lyra, a soft smile on her face, 'It says a lot about you.'_

_'Oh really?' Lyra said smirking, 'Then from now on I call you Lala.'_

_'Excuse me?' Ursula laughed, giggling at the absurdity of such a suggestion._

_'Stop acting like you've figured me out Lala, no one's allowed to. And seeing as you think you have, I must call you something strange.'_

_'Sure Lyra, whatever you say.'_

Lyra still smiled softly to herself at the memory of the conversation, from several hours ago. Ursula had left not to long afterwards. Neither girl even thought for a second about allying themselves with each other, it just wouldn't have worked, it would have been detrimental to both of their techniques.

Ursula waited, she watched, she listened, she hid, she didn't fight, she avoided being noticed at all, she made her judgements on what could happen if she was found, and then moved away, she was preparing herself. Lyra wasn't like that, she didn't need to watch and analyse constantly like Ursula, she made her judgement pretty much at first glance and she stuck to it, she picked peoples weaknesses and faults a lot faster than she did anything positive about them, she was picking out the small things that she could turn to her advantage every time she looked at them, it was just who she was, she couldn't help it.

And with Ike gone she was determined as hell to get out no matter what the costs, Ursula didn't have the same unwavering, raw determination as Lyra. An alliance between them wouldn't have worked well, and neither girl wanted to put it out in the open, so they had traded information for items to get by, and went their separate ways.

Ursula had claimed not to know who killed Ike when she'd been asked, but Lyra had known she was lying, she did know, Ursula knew all, she watched and she waited and somehow knew exactly what was going on at all times. But in a way Lyra was glad that Ursula hadn't told her. She knew that the moment she found out she'd run straight at them, and do whatever it took to make them hurt in the same way they'd hurt her, and when the career pack was this strong, that was a big risk. And for now, until the pack had broken up, or something happened to disrupt the core of the pack, then she couldn't take them out. Even if Orion would probably start helping her take out the careers and tell her whichever murderous bastard killed Ike. She had considered yet again having Orion as an ally, but she knew that as hard as it would be to get Astra aside when she was following the careers, Orion being in the career pack would have been near impossible to separate without serious risk, and she wasn't going to take that risk unless necessary.

So here she was trying to find the careers. It wasn't as easy as she'd thought, she had no tracking skills and unfortunately last night she must have been far away from them because she hadn't been able to spot smoke from a fire. If Ursula was right, Astra was still following the careers. Probably trying to talk to her boyfriend was Lyra's rational for the action. She sighed, and even as she continued looking for any sign that the careers had been through where she was now, her mind began to wonder to Ike.

Where was he now? Was there some sort of life beyond this? Had he been given a new life to live in a different dimension or in a different body? Was he watching her now? Did he know how much she was doing, and how much she was going to do so that she could take care of his family? And worse of all, how did he feel knowing that the person who killed him was still alive, out of reach, and undoubtedly out there about to kill more?

Suddenly a cannon rang out sending her body into shock for a paralysing second. And then she slowly stopped and sat down in the crook of the tree she'd been climbing, someone was dead. She counted off who it could be. Of course there was the career pack, but she doubted it. There was Ursula, plus Astra and Horace. There was Greg and there was also Charix. And that Farrow kid as well.

She knew that if it was anyone it would probably be Charix, it was a miracle that she had lasted this long, she was seriously ill and quite slight. The weaker ones had been pretty much all picked off now, sure Horace and Farrow were still around, but chances were it was going to be Charix though, she just had a feeling. It wasn't like she wanted it to be her, she just had a sixth sense telling her that it was her.

She realised that she couldn't move on until she knew who it was, it was a career or Astra it could change her entire game plan, and if it was Greg, and the careers had somehow got him, there was a possibility she could take back her old campsite, change Ike's path out so that she would be safe.

She knew that it was probably Charix, but at the same time she remembered what Ike had said, "no one knows what risks were the right ones to take until you look back and see who's won." She knew that it was very unlikely to be a career or Greg, but she couldn't risk going near the pack, or off to check on her old camp sight if they were still strong and guarded. If it was Astra herself who'd been killed, which she doubted, Orion wouldn't have let anything happen to her, then there was no point wasting an afternoon looking for her.

She knew that for now at least, what she needed was food and water that was what she truly needed at this moment. She was pretty low on supplies. So telling herself calmly, to just wait and stop being so impatient. The Hunger Games wasn't won by idiots who rushed into situations without thinking, especially if you weren't a career. She had to use her brain, not just follow her curiosity. Besides no matter who died, it was one less person that she'd have to face. And taking out the career pack wasn't something she technically had to do herself.

...

All she could feel was pain, vibrating through her system, she knew she was crying, she knew she was making off groans through her gritted teeth, but she didn't care, she just wanted it to end. The agonising feeling of the knife once again splicing into her skin made her sob gently, but it had been so long, and she didn't know what to do anymore, she couldn't escape. Even if she wasn't tied up she was in far too much pain to even move a muscle.

She wished she was capable of begging, she wished she just knew what she could possibly do to make this stop, but it was clear that her soundlessness only drove her attacker to greater frustration, and more heinous cruelty. She could hear the cruel voice of her attacker reminding her again and again, that she couldn't talk, and until she did, this would go on and on forever.

She knew she didn't have time for that though.

She had lost so much blood already, she just wished it would end, she was fading. She was fading fast and she just wished that now she just wished it would stop. Her whole life she'd had to struggle through illness and poverty and hunger, and now she just wanted to end. It would have been so much easier, so much more... peaceful, if she'd just gave into sickness as a child.

Even as she thought of this, another rush of pain hit her and something seemed to fly out of her mouth before she even knew what it was, 'Please.'

She'd spoken. Her first word in her entire life had been spoken. And it was the one that begged for her own ending. But even as the cold eyes of her would be murder fixed upon her, she could see the glint of sharp, malicious pleasure, and she heard him hiss in an almost pleased voice.

'Good girl, you're finally talking, now let's see what happens if I cut you here.'

She could just feel another sharp pain but she wasn't even sure anymore where the knife had even struck her. All she knew is suddenly there was darkness. And suddenly the pain was gone. But a cannon strike was ringing in her ears.

...

Orion sat towards the edge of the career group toying aimlessly with a small stick, staring at a leaf about a meter from his face like it was the most fascinating thing in the whole world. It was strange but focusing on the small, insignificant to anyone else, details was keeping him somewhat sane, or at least stopping him from talking to himself. The Careers were all curled up underneath their blankets, sound asleep, although all of them had their hands on their weapons, except for Botis, but then again, if someone wanted to sneak up on Botis then they would have to be suicidal. Some people would say killing the careers in their sleep would be the easiest way to sleep, but the careers had been wise to that tactic for years, that's why most of them were trained to wake up if someone came within a half meter of them.

He had been on watch for about an hour now, and he had spent all that time not paying any attention to his surroundings. A gang of killers could have come stampeding through the forest and he wouldn't have noticed. He was vaguely surprised that Seir was letting him watch, he had been shooting him death stares all day and it was clear enough that both him and Kali were having trust issues, especially after his outburst that morning. But then again, they had trust issues with everyone except each other so he wasn't bothered.

He was so out of it, lost deep in his own thoughts, that he didn't hear the slight thud behind him. He did notice however when a hand clapped over his mouth and he was literally dragged backwards slightly. At once he acted on instinct and tried to fight but a voice in his ear hissed, 'Shiny relax. It's okay!'

'Astra?' he mumbled into her hand, although all that came out was a quiet muffled noise.

'Yep. Sh.'

She tugged him backwards again and he stood, guessing that was what she wanted him to do. She led him backwards into the trees quietly, constantly looking over her shoulder as if the Careers were suddenly going to leap up and attack, and dragged him off into the woods. She led him on for at least three hundred meters, lightly hopping icy logs and rocks, before she stopped and turned to face him.

'Are you okay?'

'What?'

'You seem really out of it. Are you okay?'

He paused, jumping at the slight plop as snow fell from one of the tree branches, before shaking his head, having half-forgotten she had spoken, 'Hm? Oh right, yes, I'm fine.'

'That did not help your case at all,' Astra said, sounding vaguely amused.

'Sorry?'

'Neither did that. What's wrong?'

He half smiled as he looked down at the ground, before he sighed. With Astra standing in front of him, looking and sounding ready to listen, he gave in to the urge to talk, 'I keep on seeing what happened. And I keep on thinking of all sorts of ways that I could have avoided it, ways which would have meant that Ike didn't have to die. I can't bring myself to touch my katana because I'm terrified that if I pick them up then someone else will get hurt.'

Once he started, he couldn't stop and it all just came spilling out. Astra listened, without saying anything. When he had finished, she was quiet for a second before she spoke.

'You're feeling guilty about what happened? Orion, you are such a good person that it's not funny and I think your heart and conscience are too big for this world sometimes. But I need to tell you something. Kali and Seir have noticed and their suspicious. I over-heard them last night when they were talking. Unless you get your act together fast they're going to kill you.'

'What?'

'I heard them. You need to tuck your conscience away for a while; you need to appear heartless because if you don't then they will not hesitate to kill you. The only reason that they haven't already is because they don't want to upset Shimmer.'

Orion had to stop for a while as he digested this, 'Why are you telling me this?'

Much to his shock, Astra blushed and she looked down at the floor, 'because-because I don't you to get hurt. I don't want them to hurt you. I don't think that you should be condemned to death because you have a heart, and I couldn't stand it if that was why you were killed.'

Orion watched her face for a minute as she spoke, his heart thudding in his chest, 'Thank you.'

'Just promise me that you'll take care of yourself. Please!' she pleaded.

'I promise.'

It seemed that the conversation was over and Orion decided that he had to go back to the camp anyway, just in case one of the others woke up. But Astra was one who always had a surprise up her sleeve. Before he could turn to leave, she suddenly crossed the small distance between them and flung her arms around him.

'Stay safe,' she whispered as she hugged him so tight he thought his ribs would break.

He was slightly confused as to what to do so he half hugged her and patted he back, 'I promise, so long as you promise to stay safe.'

She looked up at him and smiled before stepping back, 'You know your little outburst earlier did not help matters at all.'

Orion snorted, 'Well, it's made Seir think.'

Astra just grinned, then sobered, 'You need to go.'

Orion hesitated. More than anything he wanted to stay with her, he wanted to run away from the Careers for good. But he couldn't he knew that. That didn't stop him wishing though.

He turned back just in time to see Astra scale a nearby tree and disappear into the branches and leaves. He half smiled, then turned and walked back towards the camp, thinking all the way about what she had just told him.

**Well... so that's that...**

_*looks up from burning Kali voodoo doll* oh...the chapters finished?_**  
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**Yes Ally, it is. So anyway, we really do hope that this chapter was worth at least half the wait.**_  
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****_Hopefully the next chapter will be worth the next half. But tell us what you think in a review maybe?_

**We really love reviews, and it makes the writing of this story so much better. Chances are we might be able to update again today, but no promises, our attention spans are pretty short. Well see you all next time, we love you all.**_  
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**~Selina**

****_Tata, and may the force be with you all._

_:)Ally_


	24. What They're Willing To Do For Love

**Hey all, we're back again, sorry that we didn't update as soon as expected, this chapter was one of the undoubtedly most important so we had to double check that we had it right.**

_Yes it had to be perfect. It's quite an important chapter._

**Your probably going to be mad with us at the end of this chapter... he he?**

_It's okay Selina, I've unlocked the bomb shelter so it's ready for a quick escape._

**...Why are you preparing yourself? The reason that they're going to be angry with us was my idea... damn it should not have said that have said that out loud!**

_Oh I know, but they'll probably still attack me because I went along with it...was that out loud?_

**...I think we better get into the bomb shelter before they find out about the Shim- And before I give something away. To the reviews!**

_To the reviews indeed!_

**To Wetstar: Glad you think so :D But I think the voodoo doll is faulty, for now at least.**

_Dear LyzeeAnne: Eek indeed. But it is quite fun having a deranged freak on the set. As for what will happen to the two's if one of them dies...well that will have to wait until later._

**Earthling44: Of course it's not bad that you like Kali, we aim to make our antagonists deplorable but oddly likeable.**

_Greenpokeguy: We agree, Greg is a little off...but as for him going in the next chapter...we may have to think about that one. Yes, three generations. Feelings mutual Poke, Lyra is awesome along with Astra. But the winner shall be concealed for a little while longer I'm afraid. Are any of the characters really sane for that matter though? Hopefully this update means you are not upset...that is, until you actually read the chapter...he he._

**Kat-rue: Unfortunately so, and although we can't say who in particular, one person does die in this chapter, and two of our favourite characters are in the contender list for that spot.**

_Hungergamezluver: Yes, we finally updated. And don't worry, we love this story and it's characters too much to ever abandon it. Don't worry, it will be finished._

**Courts: Six assessments in six days...? I'd go mental break down mode. And as for Greg... well once again, we can't reveal who lives and who dies. And as for Charix, we both felt really bad about doing it, in our original plan her death wasn't shown, but we felt like we had to do her justice. And that's why we have Shimmer, she's such good entertainment value... but probably no one else is going to like her soon, including you. Not for a time, but they will find each other, but if its before its too late we can't say. Oh everyone should be worried about what Lyra will do to Orion when she finds out, she's very loose in her sanity. And here we are Courts!**

_So without any further procrastination, onto the chapter, because you're all no doubt wondering why we're so antsy about it._

Chapter 24: What They're Willing To Do For Love

_Toby stood and waited for the train to arrive, his heart in his mouth. She was coming home, she was finally coming home. If anyone had deserved to come home, if anyone had deserved some peace in their lives it was her. He'd thought he'd been afraid watching the Games, yet he was utterly terrified now. He clenched and unclenched his sweaty palms at the thought of her arriving home again. He wasn't sure if she'd be the same Lyra, not with the way she'd been acting during the post-Games interviews. She'd seemed completely and utterly out of it, and she hadn't even seemed to be able to focus on anything for longer than about five seconds, she'd been twitchy, and once or twice she'd just doubled over and started screaming for absolutely no reason._

_The train shot soundlessly around the corner and arrived at a complete stop without seeming to jolt. District Seven went wild, cheering as first their escort Gertrude, who he'd always hated, then Xandra, who looked paranoid as always and finally Lyra stepped out of the train. _

_He knew instantly that she was not okay. Her face was blank and uncaring as she turned and waited for the next person to leave the train. The crowd was confused until four young Avox's stepped out, carrying a heavy wooden coffin. _

_Ike. _

_Lyra turned, still totally expressionless, and followed the coffin to the Justice Building. Ike's family and friends would be given a chance to say goodbye, and then he would be incinerated, as the bodies of fallen Games tributes always were. It was a tradition. Ike had been his friend, but he just couldn't turn away from the look on Lyra's face. _

_Xandra touched Lyra's shoulder gently and murmured something in her ear. Lyra spun and lashed out a punch, her face twisting instantly into a cruel, twisted mask. Xandra grabbed Lyra's hands and held them to her sides, still trying to talk to her, and Lyra struggled to get away, feet kicking anywhere they could reach, screaming and screaming over and over like she was being tortured. Everyone in the crowd was silenced by the horrifying scene. Eventually, Xandra gave up and released her, and Lyra turned instantly, face falling into its seemingly habitual lack of expression and continuing on to the Justice Building. Like the outburst hadn't happened like she hadn't just been thrashing and screaming like she was going insane._

_Toby knew that she was not the same. He stayed for the funeral service, Ike had been a very good friend of his, but at the same time he was so distracted by Lyra's out of control weeping that he couldn't focus on the cremation. She cried and cried and cried, but he just couldn't get near her through the large crowd of people, and Xandra had a vice grip on her wrist the whole time. She truly was gone._

_By the time he went to the Victors' Village the next morning, he hadn't been able to sleep all night, thinking about Lyra, and how deluded she seemed to be. It was a place the people of District Seven didn't go very often, and he was awed by the huge golden buildings. It seemed to shimmer gently in the early morning sun. He spotted a thin spiral of smoke rising from behind the tall buildings, marring the pale blue sky. _

_Then he saw her walking away from it, down the street, and he forgot everything but the fact that he loved her. He ran up, unheeding of Xandra's warning glare, and shout of protest and hugged Lyra close, almost sighing with relief as he realised she was really there. He'd almost been worried that as soon as he touched her she'd disintegrate and float away into the sky. And leave him forever like he'd been terrified the entire games that she would._

_He released her and stepped back, a small smile instinctively forming on his face. Lyra stared at him uncomprehendingly. The smile slowly faded as she looked, confused, from him back to Xandra and back to him again. Her head tilting on the side, completely unsure of what was going on._

_'Who… who are you?' she asked eventually, in a trembling voice totally unlike her own, and his world shattered to bits, her eyes darkening as she looked at him like he was about to attack her._

_'Lyra, you know me. Look at me, you know me. I'm Toby. You pushed me into a wood-chipper once, remember? We always fight. I'm Toby.'_

_She shook her head, slowly at first and then faster and faster, her expression becoming more and more panicky. Xandra looked like she was about to intervene, but she didn't, she just watched as Lyra started freaking out._

_'Why don't I remember you? Who are you? I pushed Toby into a wood-chipper once, but you're not Toby. I remember Toby. But you're not Toby. You're not him. Or is that Orion? No, no, no, not Orion, he killed Ike. Ike. He killed him, Toby. Ike's dead. I think I killed Orion. Did I? I don't know. I'm not sure. Where's Toby? I want Toby!'_

_He stood in front of her, his world in pieces at his feet, 'I'm Toby,' he managed to choke out, 'Lyra, I'm Toby.'_

_She blinked at him, 'Toby?' she whispered, a crack and strain entering her tone._

_She'd never sounded so vulnerable before. Her eyes were swimming with tears, she was shivering like it was the middle of winter. He nodded, praying that she would just recognise him, that it in any small way could bring some sort of comfort to her. She pressed her hands over her ears, her breathing getting shaky, her entire form quaking and staring up at him with haunted eyes._

_'Toby, they always scream at me. It wasn't my fault, Toby. Make them stop! Why won't they stop?'_

_She sounded like a child, like the once brilliant mind had been replaced by a six year old with all the same experiences. He reached out and pulled her into another hug, not knowing what to do, she was so damaged, so delicate, so vulnerable. She didn't respond except to shake her head harder. Xandra shot him a pitying look, almost seeming to mouth at him "Good luck hun, she's a lot further away than any of us want to admit." But Lyra ripped herself out of his arms, staring up at him once again, not seeming to understand at all._

_'Orion follows me, you know,' she said, matter-of-factly, 'He says I shouldn't have killed him. Did I? I don't remember anymore. Should I have? I don't know what's right anymore, Toby. Was I right? I don't know, Toby. Toby! Toby!' _

_She was screaming and shaking, 'Lyra, calm down, I'm right here, you're not there anymore,' he tried to interrupt her, but she didn't even seem to hear him._

_She began to laugh hysterically, 'I don't know!' she managed to get out between laughs that racked her whole body. _

_'I think it's time for us to go home,' Xandra said gently but pointedly. _

_Toby nodded, still unable to comprehend that this was his Lyra. That this was all that was left of the once brilliant, warm hearted, straight to the point, cut the crap, diamond in the rough that he'd fallen in love with. And he knew that more than anything else, that he still loved her, no matter what she was starting to twist and change into. The two women walked past him, Lyra's laughs turning to sobs that reminded him once again of the hopelessness that seemed to take over the night Ike died that sent her into the homicidal state that had gotten her out of the arena._

_ She turned abruptly, her tears stopping as suddenly as they'd started, 'Toby?'_

_'Yes? he answered, his mouth dry, part of him still praying that she was going to turn and be her again, the real her, the one who would slap him before she accepted his help._

_'Why are you here? You hate me,' she said it so simply, so innocently, so... positively, that he realised she'd never had an idea, and never would have an idea that he loved her at all, unless she got any better._

_'I don't hate you, Lyra. I… I don't hate you,' he stuttered out, his heart completely snapping but the pieces yelling at him that he better not dare give up on this girl._

_'I don't hate you, either,' she said, not even seeming to blink at all, but she said it with the same childish, innocent tone that she had spoken in before, 'At least I didn't hate you. When I used to fight with you, you know? Before the…'_

_She suddenly trailed off and screamed loudly, clutching at her head, covering her ears. Falling to her knees, screaming the word "no" over and over again. He ran to her side desperate to do something, even as Xandra looked clueless on how to handle her. But the moment he touched her arm, she looked up at him, not seeming like she was in the catatonic screaming fit from two seconds ago, babbling out the rest of her sentence like she hadn't even stopped._

_'Before I left. I kind of liked you, you were so nice to me before the games, I shouldn't have pushed you out of the room,' she half laughed, still seeming quite insane as she did so, but she looked up at him again, seeming so unsure before saying, 'But I don't know anymore. I hate me. I think I hate you too.'_

_She picked herself up, and began skipping off, singing deludedly under her breath in some sort of strange gibberish. Xandra spared him one last sympathetic glance, but ran after Lyra without much of a thought. Leaving Toby standing there, wondering what on Earth he was supposed to do now._

Toby fell out of his dream, panting and shaking, chilled to the core. Tears were running down his face but he couldn't care less.

'Lyra...' he whispered.

This girl was going to drive him over a cliff. Why couldn't he control his own emotions? Why couldn't he have fallen in love with one of the girls who was constantly making it very clear they were interested in him, and who weren't in such horrible situations. But something about how much crap Lyra was put through, made him fall for her all that much more. It wasn't because she needed a rescue or anything like that, it was the fact that she rescued herself and no matter what happened, she was always going to keep on fighting for her right to exist no matter how hard it got. It was her remarkable inner strength that had been the main reason he'd fallen in love with her in the first place. But he had never planned, never wanted to fall in love with her. But fait it seemed had other plans.

He closed his eyes, massaging his temples, he hadn't been able to stop watching the games, he just couldn't risk for a single second that she was going to die, and part of him had this deluded feeling that as long as he was watching nothing bad could happen to her. He'd done all he could have done to protect her, he'd talked Orion into protecting her, he'd given every cent he owned, which although nothing on the Capitol, was enough to do something, anonymously to Xandra so she could use it to give Lyra help. He was going to do whatever it took to get her home, so he could finally tell her how he felt.

But now he realised with a sinking thud that even if she did get home, that chances were, she was never going to be the same. She might be completely and utterly insane, quite a few victors did end up going crazy. But even as he thought more and more about it, he knew that even if she was insane, he'd still love her, he'd still been able to feel it in his dream, and he could feel his love for her intensifying more and more by the second as he thought about her. There had to be another way he could help her. There had to be.

He glanced off handily at the clock and realised with a thud that he'd been asleep for five hours, longer than he had slept in one go since the games began, and instantly he knew that she could have been killed in those five short hours and he wouldn't have known.

…

'This is a waste of time!' Shimmer whined.

'Shut up Shimmer,' Kali said for the zillionth time.

'I'm with Shimmer, this is a waste of time,' Seir said earning him an irritated look from Kali, 'There is no trail.'

'There is so,' Orion muttered.

'Look he just made a mistake,' Lilith said calmly, 'tracking isn't the easiest thing in the world, especially in snow, but the trail is cold, there's no point in keeping going.'

'There's a trail,' Orion insisted, 'honestly, we keep going this way for another ten minutes and we'll find someone.'

All of them looked disbelievingly at him, 'Oh for god's sake, there's no trail!-' Shimmer began.

'There is so-!'

'I'm tired can't we just have a rest-!'

'Can we just kill someone already?'

Suddenly there was a loud thud that shut them all up instantly as Seir slammed his axe into a tree, 'Enough! Here's what's going to happen, I'm going to follow Orion's stupid imaginary trail for fifteen minutes, alone, if you don't hear a cannon within those fifteen minutes, then... Kali, you can kill him.'

'Wait what?!' Orion asked hoping that he hadn't heard what he just heard.

'You're useless in this pack,' Seir shrugged.

'Useless? Since when am I useless?'

'Sure you killed the worm from seven, but he wasn't a threat, it was the girl who was and she got away.'

'And that's my fault is it?!' Orion demanded knowing perfectly well it was.

'Yes, it might as well be, because seeing how cosy you've been with her, chances are, you did it on purpose.'

'And why would I do that?!' Orion asked silently replaying what Astra had told him last night while he was on watch.

'Irrelevant, we have no room for slackers in this pack, the only good type of dead weight is a dead body,' Seir said boredly, before removing his axe from the tree slinging it around his shoulders, and walking off.

Kali smiled at him, her eyes filled with malicious energy, tossing a knife one handed, successfully scaring him. He took a slight step back, knowing it would do no good what so ever, but feeling like he had to. He glanced at the others, none of which looked helpful. Shimmer looked angry, but more in the way of a toddler who was being threatened to have their favourite toy taken off them. Lilith looked bored as always, having embedded the point of her spear into the ground and using the shaft as a headrest. Botis simply looked annoyed that neither of the possible kills was going to be his. Admittedly he'd prefer Botis killed him, it would be so much quicker.

'Hey Kali?'

'Be careful what you say you little worm,' Kali said menacingly.

'Can Botis kill me if I'm wrong?' he asked with a strange almost bored tone.

'Excuse me?!' she hissed.

'Well it would be less painful,' he pointed out.

Botis was chuckling at this point, and Lilith and Shimmer seemed to exchange grins, although he didn't entirely know what was so amusing about this situation. But as the minutes dragged on and Kali sulked, he started feeling more and more worried because they still hadn't heard a cannon, but partially at the same time he was worried about what would happen to his conscious if he did hear a cannon. As time continued, he noticed that Botis was standing a lot closer to him than he was comfortable with, and then he heard what Kali kept intoning quietly but very clearly.

'Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.'

Orion could feel the chills running through his system, this was it, he was going to die at any second, and then he heard Kali count down, 'Five.'

Botis moved even closer to him, and Orion caught himself praying to God knows what that he'd hear a cannon that wasn't his own, 'Four... Three.'

Botis placed a hand on either side of his head and he felt his entire body go into shock, he was going to die, 'Two... One-'

As the number fell from Kali's lips a loud cannon rang through the forest, and Orion sucked in a huge breath of relief, knowing that if Botis had jumped the gun by even a second, he would be dead. Botis let go of him with surprising willingness, and Kali looked mortified and was practically shaking with rage that Orion was still alive, before she plastered that creepy, wide smile across her face.

'Let's go see who Seir got shall we Orion?'

Orion could barely register what was being said because part of him had just died then, his entire life had flashed before his eyes, and it randomly occurred to him how much time he spent by himself, and reflected on it as time well spent.

He was oddly surprised by the fact that many of his warmest memories, the ones that made him feel happier, almost all were to do with Astra. And even now her image seemed to light up his head and he could hear her laughter ringing in his ears. But as he remained frozen, he blinked sharply and found that the others had already began walking in the direction that Seir had disappeared in, and hastily he forced himself to follow.

The trail itself only continued on for a few hundred meters and they soon reached a small, frosty clearing. Seir was leaning casually against a large tree trunk, examining his bloody axe with a sadistic glint in his eye. Kali smirked as she stepped forward and the others seemed pretty happy as they looked at the ground. Orion's stomach swirled and he felt like he was going to be sick, but he forced himself to look down all the same.

Orion was sickened and horrified as he looked at the corpse that lay on the ground, and was chilled to the core when he noticed the head lying a meter or so away. It took him a few moments to realise who it was. It was Farrow from District Nine, or what was left of him. Blood soaked from the gushing neck and head, seeping into the ground and covering whatever was left of his body. Orion had seen many gruesome things watching the replays of the games, but he had never seen something so horrible up close.

As he was watching Kali laughed slightly, 'Bombs away!'

With that she stepped up to the head and, the same way one would kick a football, she kicked it up into the air, straight towards Shimmer. She acted on instinct mainly and held out her hands to catch whatever it was flying at her. Farrow's severed head landed in her palms and at once she let out a deafening shriek , tossing it back into the air and dancing around like a demented Leprechaun, shrieking and carrying on, trying to clean her hands.

Shimmer was freaking out, and as she bounded up and down her bow and half her arrows clattered out of the case on her back. She stared at the blood and undoubtedly brain matter as she wiped it off on a nearby tree, before she screeched at Kali loudly, 'How could you do that to me!?' she demanded.

'Oh shut up Barbie, no one cares,' Kali snapped off handedly.

Seir laughed as he hoisted his axe back into its case, leaving the blood glistening wetly on the blade like a badge of honour. He turned to Orion who was still blankly staring at the corpse, unable to come to terms the fact that he had caused his death.

'Looks like you were right. Ten minutes down the track and there he was,' he smirked almost like a demented psychopath.

'Although you could have waited just a second longer to kill him, I mean really, then we'd have two more tributes down instead of one,' Kali said evilly, 'Come on, let's go, I think it's time for a break... Move it Orion, we'll need a fire!'

Her yelled words made Orion's sluggish brain cooperate and he vaguely walked off, away from the almost overpowering stench of blood, looking for a vague camping spot. He found a small clearing a few meters away, and not even seeming to know what he was doing he started to make a fire. He was feeling so incredibly guilty that he'd let Farrow die instead of him. He could only guess how much pain he must have been in. If he hadn't pointed out those tracks then this never would have happened. And all he could think was how much he wished he'd never volunteered, that he never had entered this stupid arena.

He was still out of it, lost in thought, so he didn't notice as the other careers arrived in the clearing and threw their stuff down. He barely registered it when Shimmer suddenly let out a slight cry, 'Oh crap. I left my bow back there. I have to get it before they take it with the body.'

She bolted into the trees and Orion continued with the fire. Then suddenly, like someone had flipped a switch, Shimmers words registered. She had left her bow with the body. Astra was probably still looting it. Ice cold horror settled in his gut and without a word of explanation he sprang to his feet and sprinted after Shimmer.

He was swearing under his breath, desperate to get back there before Shimmer did, desperate to get Astra out of there. Whether Shimmer had her bow or not, Astra stood no chance against her in a fight, it was as simple as that. He had to get to her before Shimmer did, he had to. But as he pulled up in the clearing his dull hope that Astra would have already gone before Shimmer got there faded, because Astra was in the clearing, and barely five meters away from her, stood Shimmer.

'Look what the cat dragged in Orion,' Shimmer beamed at him.

Astra looked up at him and for a brief second he could see a slight flicker of hope in the forest green depths, although it was soon clouded out by terror as Shimmer moved forward. She let out a tiny, petrified squeak and shuffled backwards. Orion knew he had to act fast if he wanted to save her, but he couldn't think of what to do.

'Oh sugarplum are you scared?' Shimmer crooned, voice dripping with false sweetness.

Astra's short sharp breaths clearly answered that question, and Orion had no idea what to do. There was no way he could get away with attacking Shimmer, because not only was he unwilling to kill her no matter how much she annoyed him, but Seir, Kali, Lilith and Botis would show up any minute now and he couldn't take the four of them at once if they knew he had betrayed them. Which left him with only one option, he had to distract Shimmer, do something that could take her attention away from Astra long enough for her to run.

Okay, so that was all well and good, but he needed a suitable distraction and that was easier said than done. Shimmer wasn't one to be distracted by shiny things or cute animals and even if she was there was a distinct lack of them in the arena. So he had to think of something else. But he was slightly stumped.

If he was at home he could have pointed and yelled attractive boy, which would have got her attention quickly. He could probably throw snow or dirt or a bug at her, but that would have been way to obvious, if Shimmer knew he was trying to help Astra he was a dead man. He started listing through the things in his head at lightning speed the things that Shimmer liked and wanted, but he realised with a thud only one of them was here.

He swore in his head as he came to the conclusion that there was only one way to help Astra which wouldn't endanger both of their lives. But it was not a plan which he was fond of, not in the slightest. He would rather take on the other Careers than do this, but that was suicidal and wouldn't help Astra in the slightest probably. So he was left with this one thing. He internally groaned, already feeling slightly sick at the idea.

'Ah... Shimmer... Just stop for a second...' he said cautiously.

Shimmer turned to face him, but it was still very clear that Astra was still in her sights, 'What?'

Orion was pretty sure he must be insane; he couldn't believe he was actually considering doing this. He wasn't sure how but he'd gone insane, and now he was prepared to do this to help Astra. Shimmer raised an eyebrow at him, seeming impatient.

'What is it Orion? Can't we just hurry up and kill the little shrimp already?'

'In a minute. She's not going anywhere and I…um…well…'

'Just spit it out already Orion. I want to kill her before next year.'

It was now or never. Swallowing his pride, he forced himself to move, 'I just really quickly want to do this.'

With that he pulled her close to him and kissed her on the lips. Shimmer let out a slightly startled noise, before she smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

...

He ran down stairs, not even caring how dishevelled and slightly maddened he looked, and ran to the television screen, and flipped to where they constantly showed the highlights reel.

He watched, praying she wasn't dead when he heard an irked voice from behind him, 'Tobias, would it kill you to put on a shirt before you come crashing down to the check the television, what if we have guests?'

'Don't really care dad,' he said as he tried to turn his attention back to the TV, but his dad switched it off and he glared up at him, 'Do we have guests?'

'Yes we do, now go put on something more acceptable and comb your hair for pities sake,' his father, Magnus, said sounding extremely irritated as usual with how his son behaved and talked to him without reservation, despite him being mayor of the district.

'Are they from the Capitol?' Toby questioned picking up the subliminal message.

'Yes which means-'he began.

'That they aren't going to care if I'm shirtless, you saw what they dress the tributes in dad, they leave very little to the imagination,' Toby said flatly and boredly pulling the remote out of his father's hand.

'Tobias-'

'I'll do as I'm told if you tell me what happened in the games while I was asleep,' Toby intervened before his dad could get furious with him.

'The girl from eight, Charix, she finally gave into what that psychopath was doing to her,' Magnus began.

'No other deaths?'

'No.'

'Then I'm all good.'

'A lot more happened-'

'I don't really care as long as that's the only person that's dead,' Toby said, 'I can catch up on the rest later.'

'Go upstairs and change.'

'Na,' he said calmly and began flicking through the channels.

'Tobias!'

'Is everything alright in here Magnus?' came a ridiculously thick Capitol accented voice and Toby could visibly see his father flinched as he heard the voice.

'Hi there,' Toby said quite cheerfully much to the annoyance of his dad, 'I'm his no good lay about son who won't shut up and get married already so I can leave his damn house.'

'Tobias!' his father yelled.

But a weird giggle came off the Capitol Lady, who he realised wasn't too much older than himself, and in typical Capitol fashion, was eying him up and down like she was making sure whatever she was seeing was natural, 'He's very charming.'

He rolled his eyes inwardly, but he owed enough to his dad to play nicey-nice with the Capitol people, 'To what do we owe the pleasure m' lady?' he asked trying to make it sound like he was attracted to her when in all realities the purple skin wanted to make him gag.

He was very used to this routine, every time someone from the Capitol came to town, they came here, and his father tended to bribe him with something to play nice. The way his father wanted him to play nice tended to mean flirt with the Capitol girls and do whatever you can to get them to do, this next bit differed on his father's various schemes, and perhaps if they like you enough we might be able to make an alliance to make District Seven prosper. In short, his father wanted him to marry a Capitol bimbo just to make him look good, thank god he'd always managed to something to worm his way out of it.

She giggled again, seeming very distracted by him, so his father answered, 'For the final twelve now that they're down to it, they're delivering messages from home, so we were looking up the address for that girl's parents-'

'WHAT?!' The slight explosion came out of his mouth before he could even help it, 'ARE YOU MAD?'

'Tobias-'

'You can't possibly be thinking of trying to get a message out of Lyra's parents!' he hissed angrily.

'What do you mean?' Magnus asked not understanding.

'They're drug addicts! They haven't fed her since she was I don't know, four, and they barely recognise her!'

...

Orion honestly couldn't believe how low he'd sunk, but somehow if he could save Astra he was willing to do absolutely anything. Shimmer had been trying to get him to kiss her for quite some time, for several years actually, and he'd always kept as far away from her as he could manage. But now, he'd not only let it happen, he'd initiated it. Shimmer was practically standing on his toes, her lips locked to his, her body pressed right up against his, he felt absolutely disgusting doing this, but for Astra it was worth it, he opened his eyes a crack to see how far Astra had run now that he'd distracted Shimmer, but he was stunned to see she was still standing there, a horrified look plastered across her face.

This was not good. He realised with a dull thud that she probably had no idea what he was doing and why he was doing it. Quickly, he moved one of his hands in a vague shooing motion. Astra frowned and cocked her head in confusion, so he shooed her again, desperately praying that she would get it and move. It took a few more agonising seconds, but suddenly realisation dawned in her eyes.

"Oh I owe you!" she mouthed, and bolted.

He knew he couldn't just pull away straight away, he had to buy her more time, as much as he hated having to be this close to Shimmer, he just waited until he was sure that Astra was far away. But he decided that he was done with the kiss the moment that Shimmer tried to open his teeth with her tongue and moved his hand off her back and slipped it down to her butt. Almost instantaneously he pulled away and Shimmer giggled air-headedly, and then he realised something else, after he got over his urge to gag. The rest of the career pack was standing at the edge of the clearing, their mouths hanging wide open.

'Um…hi,' he tried.

It probably didn't help that Shimmer forced her hand into his and pressed herself back up against him, as if she was expecting another kiss. The rest of the Career pack were stuttering out rubbish and it wasn't until Lilith came to her senses that anyone spoke.

'What's going on here?' she asked voice very faint.

'...Ah... What does it look like is going on here?' he vaguely stuttered out.

Shimmer was giggling like a moron and he silently cursed everything that existed in the world, but then Shimmer glanced around weirdly before saying, 'Hey, where's ten gone?'

Seir stiffened like a dog who'd scented a rabbit, 'Ten?!'

'She was just here, looting the packs... but then... I guess I got distracted...' she giggled weakly, looking up seductively at Orion.

Orion just kept his face straight, still struggling to keep the bile from rising in his throat. Seir instantly pulled his axe from its hold and his eyes narrowed.

'Which way did she go?' he demanded.

'I don't know,' Shimmer said innocently.

Orion was about to say the same thing when Kali suddenly piped up, 'Look here. The pack she took must have been soaked with blood. It's left a nice little trail for us.'

...

The words flew out of his mouth before he could help it, and instantly the look of shock deepened in his father's face and the Capitol girl looked appalled, 'Really?'

'Yes, for god's sake, why do you think she's a thief? She has no other way to get by,' Toby snapped, glaring at his father.

'Why didn't she go to the orphanage-'

'Because that would mean she needed someone to take care of her, and even when she was a kid she was insistent that she'd get it done herself,' Toby said off handedly, not entirely sure how to explain the psychology of Lyra's brain.

'Well, does she have any friends who might want to do it for her?' the Capitol lady asked, moving quickly past the parents.

'Lyra doesn't have friends, why do you think she hates it here?' Toby said blankly.

'Surely there's someone-'

He shook his head but that was when his most brilliant of ideas came to him, 'No- Actually, I could do it.'

'Tobias, you and her hate each other,' his father said.

'I'm not sure about what she thinks of me, but I certainly don't hate her, and I must be one of the few people that know her well enough to actually mean something.'

_And I love her…_

His last silent thought was something he would never be able to tell his father, at least to his face. His father wouldn't be able to understand it; he'd never done anything in his life that wasn't exactly what was expected of him. He followed the rules to the letter, he'd never understand how anyone could love someone as strange, rebellious and damaged as Lyra. He just wouldn't understand.

But he couldn't stand the thought of Lyra not knowing, and this might be his last chance in the world to let her know that just because she thought no one did, that he loved her, and he had to let her know, whether she ever returned those feelings or not. And the more and more he considered it, he found didn't care if the world had to find out about it, as long as she knew.

The Capitol girl seemed to be glad at the prospect she'd be able to get a recording, 'That would be lovely.'

'So what do I have to do?' Toby asked ignoring the suspicious look from his father.

She smiled and pulled a small silver device he guessed had to be a recorder of some sort, 'Here, you just talk into this; you've got two minutes at the most, but you just have to talk to them, and just remember, the whole of Panem will hear you speaking so if there's anything embarrassing I suggest you don't say it.'

'Okay,' he said quietly, mentally going over in his head what he had to tell her, what he had to say, and then thinking of a way to get his father out of the room he said, 'Father, have you offered our guest a drink? I'm sure she must be exhausted after her long trip from the Capitol.'

His father bustled out of the room, taking the Capitol Lady with him; he took a deep breath, closing his eyes, his finger hovering over the record button, before he eventually just told himself, 'You love her Toby, it's time that she found out,' and taking another breath he hit record.

...

Orion's entire brain deflated as he realised that all of that was for nothing. He'd probably made the biggest mistake of his life, and it was for nothing. But the careers all went racing in the direction Kali had indicated and he realised that he had no time to hesitate, he ran after the other careers. He just hoped that he'd bought Astra enough time to get too much of a head start for them to catch her, or that Astra had noticed the backpack leaking blood and dumped it so he could pretend not to be able to find her tracks, or at least she'd done something to throw them off her trail. But as he heard another joyous cry ring out from the pack he realised that Astra hadn't done anything that he hoped she would have.

He skidded to a halt just beside Botis, mind reeling with images of her already lying dead on the ground, or her quivering with fear just about to be killed. But the first thing he noticed was that not one of the careers was looking at the ground, they were all looking up. He followed their gaze and nearly smiled when he saw Astra perched a good fifteen or more meters up a tree. Her eyes sparkled with fear as the Careers circled the tree but she somehow managed to keep a brave face, knowing that she was well out of reach.

But at the same time, it didn't stop the careers trying to get her down, within a split second a knife thunked about two meters below Astra's feet and Kali growled in frustration, 'Lilith!' she commanded.

Lilith let her spear fly but it fell out of the air, but still would have struck her in the ankle if Astra hadn't pulled her foot up, but knowing what came next he mouthed wildly "move it." She swung behind the tree just in time to miss three or four arrows that had Shimmer had shot at her.

'Wow! That was close!' Astra remarked loudly.

She cautiously poked her head out so she could wave slightly at the fuming Careers. Orion wanted to shake his head and laugh in amusement but he forced himself with great difficulty to remain serious. But suddenly Seir seemed to lose patience with the failed attempts to bring her down and he turned to Orion.

'Get up there and get her down!' he snapped.

'Pardon?'

'Get up that God damn tree and get her down!'

'What makes you think I can climb it?' he asked at once, trying to buy some time so he could think of a plan.

'I saw you with Seven in training. Now get up that tree! Before I use your head as a bowling ball!'

He'd rather kill the five people surrounding him then having to take Astra's life, which he had no doubt that he would have to if he climbed that tree. But he knew he didn't have a choice, if he refused Seir, Kali, Lilith or Botis would kill him without hesitation, Shimmer wouldn't especially after he made it appear like he wanted her, but still four against one was not an odd that would end well, and he wouldn't save Astra. He took a deep breath in and began to climb the tree.

Astra let out something that sounded like a startled squeak when he began to climb. This was obviously not what she had expected. But when he looked up, he saw her looking at him, hope glittering in her eyes as if she was expecting him to do something miraculous and save her. But as he got closer that hope began to slowly flicker and fade and a small frown creased her brows. He looked up at her again; mind whizzing through ideas at the speed of light as he tried to come up with some way that he could save her without making it too obvious what he was doing.

He was so desperate to save her, he would do anything he possibly could to save her, hell he'd kissed Shimmer that just about proved he would. But suddenly staring up at Astra, he realised he was completely and utterly incapable of killing her. He couldn't, he couldn't do it, he just couldn't. She was too sweet, too kind, too... brilliant, she was the one person who could never do anything to hurt someone on purpose. He couldn't help but think she was a one in a million person, and when someone was shone brighter than the morning sun, no one in their right mind could possibly...

'Crap...' he whispered, the sudden overwhelming realisation of what the strange emotion that had always clouded his thoughts whenever he thought of Astra had been before he even knew her name was.

He was jolted back into the present by loud laughter from the careers and when he looked up again Astra was climbing up even further into the tree. Occasionally she looked down at him and he could see in her eyes that she was starting to question her trust in him, especially when he kept climbing. She continued to scale the tree, now going dangerously high where the branches were getting unstably thin. Some of them even trembled under her weight. Then an idea struck him, which was almost as stupid as kissing Shimmer, but not quite. And it would work. If the branches were getting almost too thin to support her, then there was no way they could support him.

As he climbed higher and higher, Astra ran out of branches that wouldn't snap under her weight and she seemed to realise there was nowhere else to run and she turned to look at him four meters below her before whispering in a haunting tone, 'Just... just make it quick Orion... I know you have no choice.'

He couldn't believe it, she accepted that he was supposed to kill her, she didn't even seem angry or even particularly upset or scared, the strange acceptance chilled him to the core, convincing even further that he was incapable of killing her. Her forest eyes glowed at him strangely and once again she repeated to him what he couldn't do.

'Just do it Orion.'

And wetting his lips gently he said as quietly as he could, 'This is going to hurt.'

'I know, just make it as quick as you can-'

'I'm not going to kill you Astra, this is what is going to hurt,' and with no hesitation he deliberately grabbed a weak branch and put all of his weight on it.

Not surprisingly it snapped within half a second and instinctively he closed his eyes as he felt himself drop. Normally he probably could have grabbed another hand hold but this time, he let himself fall. In fact, he purposely managed to break a few of the branches on his descent, although the sharp whip of wood against his skin, even softened by the jacket hurt a ton. He was expecting the impact with the ground to hurt a lot, but conveniently it was somewhat softened by the fact that he landed almost completely on top of Shimmer, who instantly started shrieking at him to get off.

'Get off me! Get off me!' she yelled.

'Not surprising to see you two all over each other again,' Kali said snarkily, 'So much for Seven's lessons, that was a dumb ass move Orion.'

'She's at the minimum thirty kilos lighter than me, with how high up she is, no wonder the branches wouldn't hold,' he said, but was left standing wobbly by Botis who picked him up by his head and dumped him on his feet.

Shimmer went to go up the tree after Astra looking furious when Lilith stopped her, 'You're stupid, you know that right? With the amount of branches Orion's managed to break there is no way in hell you can get up there, or anyone not from the tree hugging district for that matter.'

Internally Orion was grinning like a maniac and when he looked up he saw Astra looking half shocked and half over-joyed. Seeing as everyone was watching him though he couldn't do anything other than keep his face blank.

'So what do we do now?' he asked.

Seir answered, sounding beyond furious, 'I guess we'll just wait her out.'

'Isn't that a little dumb?' Orion asked.

Thankfully Lilith chimed in, 'I agree. It is a bit pointless to sit around waiting for her to come down.'

He instantly knew what he'd have to do, and it would be pretty easy, the argument had been on the verge of imploding for days, 'Shouldn't we go after the girl from five? With her training score and the fact she's armed with a sword she's definitely a bigger threat than the moth in the tree.'

Kali instantly disagreed with him, like he knew she would, 'No. The bitch from Seven is a bigger threat whether she's from a pathetic district or not, we should go after her.'

'You won't get within five hundred meters of her before she's up a tree taller and harder to climb than this one, even Orion won't be able to climb it, besides unlike the pixie girlfriend up there, Seven has no problem with pushing people out of trees,' Botis said gruffly, saying more words in one go than he'd said the entire time he'd been in the arena.

For a few seconds everyone just looked at him in shock, slightly surprised at the sudden sentence. Botis just shrugged and continued.

'I think we should go after the boy from eight.'

'Why?' Kali sneered.

'Because he's big enough to put up a fight and therefore he would be more fun,' Botis reasoned.

'We need to think about threats first Botis. Not who will be the most fun to kill!' Kali snapped.

Seir obviously agreed with Kali, 'I think we should go after the girl from seven.'

Shimmer flounced over and took Orion's arm, much to his displeasure, 'I agree with Orion. I think the girl from five is the biggest threat.'

But once again Lilith cut Shimmer down snapping rather rudely, 'Yeah but she isn't going to do anything unless she's threatened, she could take out a few of us if we give her that chance, I've seen her with that sword, she's fast. What we need to do is pick off the little weaklings so they're out of the way. The oily haired brat from eleven needs to go and so does the boy from ten, he's less slippery than the little insect up there.'

And just as Orion had predicted a huge argument began among the careers. Kali insisting that they should go after Lyra, who was being drowned out by Botis who wanted to kill Greg, but he was being fought hard against by Seir who wanted Astra out of the damn tree but Lilith was insisting so stubbornly they should pick off the weaklings and the only person who seemed to not be considering what Lilith was saying was Shimmer who was raging loudly that Nakita deserved to die, even though most of the reason she thought she did was because Orion had suggested her.

Orion continued with the argument for a few moments, just making sure that it was well under way, before he risked a glance up the tree. Astra was still perched at the top, watching curiously as the Careers argued about who to kill. Orion flashed her a tiny wink and she hid a smile behind her hand. Seeing as the careers were still at each other's throats Orion jerked his head in the direction of a nearby tree, purposely placing a hand at the base of his neck so it would look like he was just stretching. But Astra got it almost straight away.

"I owe you!" she mouthed down.

He watched from the corner of his eye as she judged the distance between her tree and the next one over, before she leapt nimbly across, catching hold of a branch to steady herself. Just before she leapt on to the next tree though, she looked back down at him and he couldn't help the slight blush as she blew him a small kiss before she disappeared into the next tree.

He resumed the argument, knowing that the longer that it took for them to notice Astra was gone, the safer she would be, and it took a grand total of six and a half minutes for that to happen, and only as Seir yelled, 'We are going to stay under this tree until that little brat comes d- WHERE THE HELL DID SHE GO!?'

All of them looked up in shock, 'Where is she?!' Kali demanded.

'What the hell!?' Shimmer shrieked.

'How on Earth did she get away?' Botis asked sounding more confused than angry.

'What the...?' Orion intoned quite proud of his lying abilities for once.

'It doesn't make sense!' Lilith cried, 'How'd she get away? We were right here!'

It took all of his self-control to not do a little victory dance as he listened to the Careers shocked, angry and indignant responses to the sudden revelation that Astra had managed to get away. However his excitement was short lived, because the next thing he knew his feet had been swiped from under him and the blood coated blade of Seir's axe was millimetres from his throat.

'What did you do? How did she get away?!' He yelled.

'You think I know?' Orion asked, 'She probably swung off when we weren't watching.'

'This is your fault!' Seir hissed dangerously.

'How is it exactly?! You were the only one who wanted to wait for her to come down, it was your responsibility to keep an eye on her, if you'll remember, I want to go after Nakita, the girl from District Five, not the pin-cushion from Ten,' Orion snapped hoping that if he appeared angry Seir possibly might leave him alone.

Seir's rage was obviously increasing and he was drawing back his axe when Kali grabbed his wrist and hissed something in his ear. He seemed to be annoyed with whatever she was saying, but at his glare towards Shimmer, Orion realised that once again, the only reason he was alive was because Shimmer liked him, and Seir put his axe in its sheathe once again before huffily snapping, 'Come on, we better go see if she's left a trail for us to follow.'

Seir stormed off, not even bothering to wait for directions and Kali followed him instantly. Shimmer hurried over to him and took his hand, as if she was going to help him to his feet, but he brushed away her offer of help as he pushed himself to his feet. Before he moved off though to follow the rest of the pack, his eyes flitted back up to the tree. He still couldn't believe what he was doing and why he had done it. He couldn't even begin to understand the emotions which were coursing through him even now. But at the same time his mind was reeling with the injustice of it all. How could the world be cruel enough to him to show him the one person he could ever love, and fix it to make sure one or both of them would end up dead?

...

He knew what he was doing was stupid. He'd known the moment that it had popped into his head that it was a stupid idea, but he also knew without even thinking about it, that he was going to have to do it. The Capitol lady was still inside talking to his father in the living room, but her car was parked outside. He'd managed to knick her keys, and unlocked her boot before going back inside and putting the keys back in her bag so she wouldn't expect anything. So grabbing a bag of food and a few water bottles he went back outside. And opening the boot of the car he climbed inside, and closed himself in the boot.

He was going to get himself to Lyra no matter what it took.

_...So...what do you think? *whispers to Selina* I think we should start towards the shelter now..._

**Oi! Ally! You do realise I'm already in here, now get in quick so I can shut the door!**

_Oh right, I was wondering where you'd got to. I thought they had already taken you and I was going to have to perform a daring rescue._

***Hides head as thumping against bomb shelter starts* They're going to hate us for this!**

_Oh yeah. So tell us our dear readers in reviews how much you now hate us, because we do so love reviews!_

**Or alternatively, tell us what you think of Toby, and the brilliant dream sequence originally written and inspired section by our guest writer, the amazing Shimmering Bubbles!**

_So, let us what you think. We love you all and your reviews! _

_:) Ally_

**And we'll see you next time!**

**~Selina**


	25. Voices From a Million Miles Away

**Hey all, we're back already! And up and running with our next chapter!**

And what a lot of fun we have in store for you all this time.

**Fun!? I was depressed the whole chapter!**

_It was fun in a depressing way. If you get my meaning._

**Yeah I know, when I read back over the chapter I started crying, we've clearly done a good job, shall we talk to our reviewers Ally.**

_It is very depressing indeed Selina. Yes, let us talk to our dear reviewers._

**Earthling 44: Phew! Glad your not mad, when we decided to do this we instantly thought, this is not going to end well. Oh Toby probably would do something like that, he's absolutely shameless.**

_TributefromEndor: woo, all 24 in one night. We're so happy that you like it. Hopefully this chapter is another good one._

**GreenPokeGuy: Yeah sure it's strategic but now if he wants to live he can't ** Shimmer off, and that means that he can't push her off when she makes it happen again. Yeah well that can be considered annoying, and the fact that Orion nearly died twice as well when you think about it. Well Astra was kind of pushing it with her little escapade, and if she stayed out of trouble the whole games it would be boring. And as for what Toby's going to do, your going to have to wait and see, he's crafty, he'll think of something, and we're really glad you enjoyed it! And honestly I don't think anyone is truly okay after they get out of the games, and as for whether or not this is a reality, I'm not saying that Toby is a seer, but he could have a point... or does he?**

_Wetstar: Don't we all love Toby. He's finally made his appearance! Woo! And don't worry, nobody likes the Shimmer/Orion kiss. Yes, Orion did have a sudden brain wave which we all love. I don't know Wetstar, my partner and I may have to discuss. :)_

**Hungergamezluver: We're glad you think so :D We work hard to make them adorable. There all kind of pushing it, they all seem to be waving around big signs labelled "KILL ME! I DARE YOU!"**

_And without further adieu, onwards to the chapter!_

Chapter 25:

Astra was still not sure what she was even supposed to be doing, her little plan of stalking the careers; well it wasn't exactly going to work anymore. All she really knew right now is she was enjoying the little place she'd found to sleep in last night, it was a burrow! It seemed like a giant rabbits den to her, and it was as cosy as could be.

The moment she had fallen into it she had set to work making it into a rather substantial pillow fort, bordering up the whole thing with pillows and blankets that she'd collected from the packs she'd collected. Not that was the only thing she'd collected, there was her food pile, her matches pile, her empty canteen pile and her pile of "I really don't know what it is but it looks cool," stuff. Oh, and the random couple of weapons but she didn't like at those, so they were wrapped in a blanket and tossed in a corner. In fact she had just about everything, she'd camouflaged the entrance, she really had no reason to leave, until she heard the trumpets blaring over the sound system. Frowning to herself, she crawled out from under the bush covering the hole to the outside, still wrapped in her blanket like a caterpillar.

'Attention Tributes. We are down to the final twelve. And as a reward for all of your courageous efforts and your sacrifices, we bring you messages from home. Messages from your families, your friends, those you care about most and care about you the most. Now let us begin from the lower districts to the higher, Ursula Guin, here is your message from home.'

Astra could hear voices, warm voices of people that she didn't recognise, but couldn't help but empathise with, they sounded so proud of their daughter, for lasting as long as she had, but at the same time it was pretty clear that they weren't too sure she'd come back, they were alternating turns in crying while the other one spoke. But she felt her entire form go into shock when she heard Claudius Templesmith say:

'Astra Vee, this is your message from home…'

She instantly recognised her mother's voice, 'Astra, sweetheart, I am so proud you! You're doing so well! Just continue to keep yourself safe, I can't lose my baby girl…your father wants to talk to you now.'

'Astra, just be strong okay! Just keep being strong! You can do this! We believe in you-'

She suddenly heard Sera's voice, 'What are you guys doing? Oh my gosh, I want a turn,' she must have snatched it from her parents then, 'Hey little sis', you're doing so well! It's amazing! And as for that boy?...'

Astra could literally hear the fanning motion through the recording device, she could see exactly what the expression on Sera's face was, but at the same time, she wasn't entirely sure what Sera was even talking about. But she had very little time to consider it because she heard a slight scuffle for the tape recorder:

'Astra!' Came the two perfect in sync voices of her twin brothers.

'You're going so well.'

'You've been so badass this whole time.'

'I mean you haven't cried yet, and it's been like a week.'

'It must be some kind of record for you sis.'

'Hayden, Hunter give me the recorder!' she could hear Carter in the back ground.

'No!' both yelled before she heard Hayden continue, 'You kick those careers butts lil' sis!'

It was then that Carter must have snatched the tape recorder because she could hear the twins complaining, before Carter spoke, 'Hey little pixie, my God you are doing so well! It's incredible! Keep it up!-Roy, give me the recorder!'

'No! Yo Astra! You just keep up that brave face okay and keep on toughing it out! We all believe in you back here and we can't wait until you get home!'

Astra could feel her lower lip trembling, but she had to keep on listening, she had to hear to the end of it.

'Stop being so tall Alec!' she could hear Roy yelling.

And she heard Alec in his blunt but caring way, 'Good job Astra, keep it up, it's not crazy enough here without you.'

Astra hear a loud thump and then yells from the twins and a groan of pain from Alec, 'We need you to come home Astra!'

'We're going insane without you!

'Get off me,' came a muffled voice.

She half laughed as she pictured Alec on the floor with the twins sitting on top of him as they fought over the recorder.

'Keep it up Astra! We love you!' she just heard Sera yell before the recorder shut off and Claudius Templesmith was announcing Horace's .

Astra just knelt outside her burrow for a few moments, unable to move, fingers playing with her small charm bracelet, lower lip trembling, tears welling in her eyes. At last, she slid down into the burrow and just as she covered the entrance she burst into tears.

...

Lyra was still moving through the trees, Astra had to be around here somewhere. She'd found the career pack but Astra was nowhere to be found. She couldn't have gotten too far, but at the same time, she wasn't too sure, someone had killed Charix a few days ago. Maybe the careers killing a poor, mute girl was too much for her to handle. But suddenly the anthem began playing and instantly she was confused, there had been no deaths so far today that she knew of and either way, they wouldn't be projected in the sky for hours. She sat down in the fork of a tree, ready to hear what was going on but suddenly the voice of Claudius Templesmith rang out over the arena.

'Attention Tributes. We are down to the final twelve. And as a reward for all of your courageous efforts and your sacrifices, we bring you messages from home. Messages from your families, your friends, those you care about most and care about you the most. Now let us begin from the lower districts to the higher, Ursula Guin, here is your message from home.'

Lyra was surprised instantly, why would they do this? What kind of ploy was this; they'd never done it before. Well that she knew of anyway. Also, how would they get a message from home for her? She had no one, and she doubted there was a chance her stoner parents were even aware she'd left, let alone where she'd gone, let alone able to talk anymore, or at least anything that made any sense. The Capitol wouldn't air anything as tacky as that.

She could hear Ursula's message from home being played, it was a recording, and she realised that someone from the Capitol must have gone there and recorded the message directly from Ursula's parents. Both her mother and her father sounded teary, she could hear the weeping whenever the other was talking. They both sounded so proud that Ursula had made it this far, both sounded like they were praying every moment that she came home. Lyra couldn't help but wonder what it felt like, to have people in this world that cared so much about you that they'd be driven to such incomprehensible sadness by your absence. No one would blink an eye if she was gone.

The message for Horace was similar, his parents sounded so proud he'd gotten this far, but there was so much doubt in them. They weren't sure how much longer he'd last. Or if he would ever come home to them. But it was another haunting reminder to Lyra that almost everyone in the arena had a better reason to go home then she did.

The next message was for Astra, and she found herself feeling like both laughing and crying during it. They were clearly all fighting over the recording device; Astra clearly hadn't been exaggerating when she'd said she was from a big family filled with misfits. They all sounded so proud, so unbelievably proud, of what she had accomplished so far, but they were fighting to get their word in so it sounded like chaos, but the thing that made her feel like crying was how much they obviously loved her. Lyra had no one like that, nothing at all; Astra had eight people at the minimum who wanted nothing more than to see her come home.

Greg's message came afterwards, his parents seemed to be trying to do something touching for Greg, but were failing, and it didn't help that right at the end of the message, someone, probably his brother, he'd mentioned that they were the complete opposites of each other and he didn't like to talk about him, decided to say not realising he could be heard:

"If he's torturing people, are we really sure we want him home?"

Lyra knew it was her turn now that Greg's was over, but she wouldn't have been surprised if they just skipped her and moved onto the next one, who she was pretty sure was Botis but she had an odd feeling once again that she was missing someone from her count. But Claudius Templesmith spoke again, and he didn't skip her, he spoke quite calmly and clearly, not like he was readying himself for a disaster of sorts, but instead was quite touched by what was about to be played:

'Lyrana Franklin, Lyra, this is your message from home.'

Okay, this was weird, who the hell would've done it for her. There was no chance they could have gotten anything usable out of her parents. And really, she didn't have any proper friends. She thought of who it could be; even the Capitol couldn't get her neighbour's cat to talk. Maybe Mina had decided to do something for her that was all she could really hope for. Perhaps Ike's family might have done something, but she knew that was a vague hope, they would still be in grieving, and no matter how much she wanted to be part of a family, it wasn't going to happen, she was just one of those people who never was going to have a family, it was just how it was.

'Lyra.'

When the recording started playing, she thought she was hearing things, it couldn't be what she was hearing, and why the hell would Toby be the one giving her a message? What the hell could he possibly have to say to her? He hated her! Of course he had a good reason, she injured him on a bi-weekly basis, of course he hated her.

'Lyra,' he repeated and that's when she knew it was him, but his words startled her as he continued, 'You have to start fighting Lyra, you just can't keep hiding, you have to fight, you have to win Lyra.'

'You hate me Toby why are you the one sending me this message? You don't even care.'

It may have been a pre-recorded message, but with what Toby said next, it might as well have been live because he then proceeded to say, 'I know you think I hate you that I don't care about you at all, but I had to send you this message. There is so much I want to tell you, so much that if you don't get out of the games, I'll never be able to tell you. These messages can only be so long Lyra.'

'Oh come on, here we go again with that whole, I need to tell you something important thing,' Lyra scoffed irritably, lying back in the tree, rolling her eyes.

'Lyra I tried to tell you before you left, but you had a peacekeeper drag me out before I could say it and even then you kept interrupting me, your insistence that I didn't care... Lyra I know that you haven't forgiven me because you think that I set the Peacekeepers on you when I caught you stealing, but I had gone to my parents to beg them to help you, I didn't want you to get hurt. I pleaded with them for two hours after the peacekeepers dragged you off to save you but they wouldn't listen to me.'

He seemed almost desperate for her to understand, and she couldn't help but note how distressed he sounded, almost like he was holding back tears. She dismissed the thought though why would he be feeling like that.

'What does it even matter?' she muttered to herself, but then she almost fell out of the tree when she heard the next part of his message.

'I know you think you don't have anything to come back to Lyra for yourself in District Seven, and you feel that Ike's wishes are the only reason you need to fight to get out. But you have me, I know you don't like me Lyra, but I care, I... I love you Lyra.'

She actually slipped, and had to grab the tree for support, with the last four words, 'No, no I didn't hear that...' she whispered.

'I love you Lyra, I love you and... I don't know what I'll do if you don't come back, I know that this isn't going to make any sense to you, but I love you Lyra, and if you don't start fighting, if you don't start taking the fight to them, then you might not survive, and I don't want to think about what it would be like to have to live without having been able to tell you everything that I've always wanted to tell you. I love you Lyra. You need to stop hiding, you need to start fighting.'

He honestly did sound like he was crying as he said all this and Lyra was just frozen in shock, clutching at the tree so hard that her bones were showing through and the veins were popping out. She was shaking her head, mouth slightly open, confusion and disbelief lighting up her eyes. She just couldn't believe what she was hearing, no, it wasn't true, how could that be not a lie.

The tape ended in a whisper, his voice weak like he didn't have the strength to keep speaking, he just whispered in a voice so haunting that she would never be able to forget it, 'I love you Lyra, I love you.'

That was when Lyra actually fell out of the tree, her ankle hooked around a branch before she hit the ground. But she hang there, her hair brushing the snow covered ground, unable to process what she'd just heard. And then before she even knew what she was doing she yelled. Yelled dangerously loud but she couldn't even stop herself, because it just came flying out of her mouth before she could stop it.

'What the heck!?'

Her voice made the tree shake, and she fell into a pile of snow on the ground. But her scream had been loud enough to send every bird within a quarter mile spiralling into the air squawking like mad. But Lyra didn't even care, she lay, collapsed roughly in a pile of snow, shaking her head to herself, no this couldn't be right.

...

Orion could feel the bad vibes pulsing towards him, this was not a good day for him. After the events of yesterday, not only had Shimmer forced a kiss on him in front of the careers about six times, but Kali and Seir were still firmly convinced that he had let Astra get away on purpose, which although true it was just plain offensive that they didn't trust him. Shimmer was currently half sitting on top of him, but seeing as he was in front of the other careers, he couldn't do anything to annoy Shimmer, it wouldn't end well. He couldn't help but notice that both Lilith and Botis had gone quiet again, probably withdrawal from killing. They hadn't been able to find any tracks since Farrow's death, and they were currently having a lunch break from their remaining food stock while waiting for some sign of a tribute.

All of them were huddled around the fire that Orion had made, when suddenly the blaring of trumpets followed by the loud voice of Claudius Templesmith, 'Attention Tributes. We are down to the final twelve. And as a reward for all of your courageous efforts and your sacrifices, we bring you messages from home. Messages from your families, your friends, those you care about most and care about you the most. Now let us begin from the lower districts to the higher, Ursula Guin, here is your message from home.'

The careers instantly started talking over Ursula's message, 'What the hell are they doing?' Kali asked.

Seir rolled his eyes, 'Beats me, they're probably going for a touchy feely angle.'

'Gross,' Botis muttered.

'I think it's kind of sweet,' Lilith said much to all of their surprise, who simply stared them down with a challenging smirk and curled back up into her cat nap position.

'I'm with Lilith, I think it's adorable,' Shimmer said forcing another kiss against Orion's mouth while he silently contemplated if mass murder was really such a bad thing after all.

The next message was for Astra, but Orion couldn't hear a word over it because all the careers were deliberately talking over it, but then as a slight phrase was caught he almost burst out laughing as one of her brothers said, 'You kick those careers butts lil' sis.'

Instantly the rest of the careers looked up, looking offended, while Orion finally got to hear the rest of the message, it seemed pretty disjointed, people's volume rising and falling as it became clear they were fighting over the recording device. He for a split second could have sworn he heard Astra's voice on the tape but he realised that it must of been the sister she mentioned. But the resemblance at least voice wise was kind of chilling.

'Kick our butts huh?' Kali purred sounding amused, 'this is going to be fun then.'

The next message was for Horace, not that any of the careers bothered being quiet for it, he wasn't regarded as a threat, there was no reason to listen in their opinion. They just took it as an opportunity to insult the other tributes as loudly and as obnoxiously as possible, none of them seeming to have a particularly good memory of who was alive or dead. The same thing continued straight over the top of Greg's message from home, the only thing he could catch was the complete insincerity to it all.

But he was very surprised when all the other careers shut up the moment Lyra's message started playing, as the words echoed out through the arena, he found himself slightly stunned. This sure as hell was an imaginative way of telling someone that you loved them. He was stunned to see that Lilith sat up, looking off into the sky, her entire face seeming to be enthralled in this idea, like love was an entirely new concept to her. Shimmer was crying softly, looking so oddly touched that he actually considered for a moment that she might be human. Kali seemed to be fighting some sort of internal war, her face twitching in and out of a smile, awe, and anger. Seir and Botis didn't seem to have any idea what was going on.

'Oi, what's wrong with you?' Seir asked nudging Kali.

'Apparently I still have human emotions, it's annoying,' she snapped irritably.

Botis suddenly stiffened looking around in confusion, eyes fixed on the horizon like he was listening for something, 'What?' Orion asked.

'...Nothing,' he said levelly.

Lilith's message suddenly started playing, the message was from her boyfriend back at home and honestly, Lilith didn't even seem to care at all. She seemed grouchy the entire message, but then again, who could follow the performance Toby gave? It was strange that half way through the message the boy vaguely implied that he thought Lilith should be bathing more, but other than that it sounded like a general hormonal teenager relationship rather than actual love.

Botis's message was next, and Orion could have sworn for a second he saw Botis tear up. His message was from his little sister, Ria, who Orion put at probably no older than six, more like four judging by her voice. She seemed to not understand what was going on but at the same time it was very clear how much she loved her brother, saying things like "Are you coming home soon?" "Why won't mummy and daddy tell me what you're doing?" and "I miss you." And at the very end the moment where Orion became pretty positive that Botis was tearing up she said, "I love you Botis," and you could literally hear her blowing him a kiss.

Seir and Kali's messages followed and both seemed to be on the rehearsed side. They seemed to be encouraging them to make more kills, and there was a definite hint of "don't trust Orion," in the messages. They didn't appear to be from parents, friends or other family members, more so training instructors from the academy that turned them into psychopaths.

Shimmer's was from her family, but it did seem to be pretty superficial, they seemed to be almost subtly implying that she had to win for them to love her. He was vaguely reminded of his own family and he felt sorry for her for a moment, but then he remembered something else, she was probably going to try to kiss him again, the sympathy vanished pretty quickly. And he felt like he might as well hang himself when he heard Glimmer in the tape saying, "Ah yeah, sis, congrats and all, but if Orion gets out of the games, he is _so _mine."

It finally came around to his lastly, and he was not looking forward to it, not in the slightest, because if his dad was on that tape, it was not going to end well. He suddenly felt a rush of relief surge through him when he heard his mother's voice on the end of the recorder.

'Orion dear, I'm so very proud of you, you're doing so very well. I'm sure you'll come home to me, I'm sure you will. Just keep doing exactly what you're doing, follow your heart and keep that girl as close to you as you possibly can, and stay with her in every moment you can,' he vaguely paused for a moment realising that his mother definitely wasn't talking about Shimmer, the rest of Panem saw that he helped Astra... this was why he loved his mum, 'We're all rooting for you here sweet heart, we know you have what it takes to come home, family tradition or no family tradition. I love you sweet heart, I can't wait to see you again.'

Orion had a slight panic attack as he heard his father began speaking, it was a whisper, but the recorder clearly picked it up because he heard him say, 'Oh and tell that lousy son of ours to stop helping that-'

There was a loud meaty thunk shortly followed by, 'Why the hell do you still have the rolling pin?!'

'Be quiet Alcor!' Astoria yelled loudly at her husband before saying, 'Don't listen to him Orion, you keep doing exactly what your doing. I love you honey- You stay there Alcor!'

The recording cut off the rest of the obvious argument about to ensue with his parents. He could feel the weird looks he was getting from the rest of the group, his was clearly the weirdest, it might have slightly topped Astra's because no one expected it from his family. But that was when Seir turned to look at Botis.

'That was very interesting,' he said before pulling a voice and saying, 'I love you Botis,' before making a weird popping noise with his mouth.

Botis's frown increased and he said very testily, 'She's eight. She doesn't know what's going on.'

'Oh don't worry Botis,' Kali sneered, 'I found it very touching, I just never realised you were such a sap. And she's clearly got some kind of mental disorder if she's that fond of you.'

Botis looked at her for a grand total of three seconds before he got to his feet, grabbed a pack, and stalked off muttering, 'I'm going hunting.'

Orion couldn't help but feel sorry for Botis as he walked off, but he was suddenly filled with an ominous feeling that something was about to change, something was about to change everything.

...

Lyra had managed to regain the composure to climb back up the tree, but she hung there upside down, trying to get all the blood into her head to help her think. How the hell could this be true? It couldn't be, it must be some elaborate ploy for the games. But why would Toby of all people be orchestrating it? It could be a sick joke so that he could trample on the vague hope she had that someone cared the moment the games were over. But the Capitol wouldn't let him do that, they'd consider this a too gushy a story and kill both of them if they didn't go along with it and Toby of course would know that. Maybe Xandra talked him into it, the old witch was crafty. But why the hell would Toby agree to go along with it?

She had two voices in her head. One that was trying and failing to find a logical, reasonable explanation for this that wasn't as gushy and cutesy as he legitimately loved her and wanted her to know it; this was the one that she was desperately trying to listen to. The other was the one that was trying to tell her, why the hell not? And much to her irratance, that was shutting down every possible idea that the other was getting to explain all of this.

How could he love her? It was hard enough to believe that he didn't hate her, and in this context it meant the actual definition of hate, hate as in want to kill. It just didn't make any sense. How could anyone love her? She was essentially an orphan, her own parents didn't even know who she was, she had no friends, the only person she really had considered a friend was gone now, and that was because of her. She was stubborn, she was bad tempered, she was narcissistic, sadistic and prone to hurting people. She couldn't trust anyone, she just couldn't let anyone in, she never let anyone know what she was thinking or how she was feeling, she was condemned to death now, but still he said he loved her… There was so much in their history that told her that it wasn't the truth. But the strangest thing of all was she didn't want it to be a lie, she wanted to be loved for once in her life. Was that really too much to ask?

She didn't even know what she felt towards him, up until she boarded that train that sent her to the Capitol, that sent her to this hell hole that chances were, she was going to die in, she would've sworn that she hated him. But she had learnt real hatred, pure, complete and utter hatred while she was here, for the people who could take a life and think nothing of it, celebrate it even, the people that took innocent lives like Iris, Belle, Charix and Chance, Sparky, Jinx, Basil and Farrow and Rupert, Cady and Cole, a person that could look at _Ike_ and kill him. That was who she hated, she didn't hate Toby, what she'd thought was hatred was dislike and as much as she hated to admit it jealousy that his life could be so brilliant and her's so horrible.

That was another reason why it was impossible that he could love her. She had nothing. He had everything. He was just _that _guy. The guy that couldn't do anything wrong. He was a member of a well-respected family and would never have a problem with money as long as he lived. He was smart; he'd graduated first in his class last year. He was athletic, she knew he'd had training with a sword and if he could still be mobile after the crap she'd done to him he must be. He was extremely artistic as well. And there wasn't a girl in the district who didn't think he was attractive. Hell his life was perfect. _He _was perfect. What the hell would he want with a girl like her?

'You're going to drive yourself insane if you keep thinking so much about this Lyra,' she muttered to herself, 'It's not important Lyra, it shouldn't affect anything Lyra. How could he love you of all people Lyra? He has an ulterior motive Lyra, how could a guy like that want anything to do with you Lyra?'

She massaged her temples, trying to keep herself someone sane, but she just didn't know how, so forcing herself to get up and move, all the time muttering to herself as she was going, 'Walk and clear your head Lyra, maybe if you splash some water in your face you'll feel better Lyra. You really need to stop talking to yourself in third person Lyra.'

She clambered down the tree, and began walking to the pond she'd spotted earlier. The pond had a very small layer of ice gathering on the surface, she pulled a knife out of the inside of her jacket, and used the hilt to smash the ice, it broke apart with ease, and she tucked the knife back in her belt, she couldn't be bothered to put it away properly now, and she splashed the freezing water onto her face. It stung, but it was refreshing, and it loosened her up, but she was so preoccupied with what she was doing, the she didn't sense the predator behind her, until it was too late.

Out of nowhere she was snatched from behind, all the air squeezing out of her lungs instantaneously. She coughed and spluttered, not knowing what on Earth was going on but even as she struggled she found that the person holding her was way stronger than she was. She managed to tear one of her hands loose and there was a loud thwack as the heel of her wrist made contact with something and she was dropped. She barely managed to register her attacker, Botis, the monstrous boy from District Four, before all six feet, eight inches and a hundred and twenty eight kilos of him, lunged straight back at her, his gorilla hands going for her throat, a nasty bruise already forming under his eye.

She ducked and ran for the trees but before she could climb up one, Botis hooked one tree-trunk arm around her knees and she fell. It was one of those searing moments before you hit the ground when you think "well this just isn't going to end well." And she could feel her shoulder pop out of place as she slammed into the ground, hard. But she rolled off her shoulder onto her back; the large knife slash was still healing, which resulted in a loud wretch of pain, which unfortunately for her, Botis picked up on.

Even as she tried to get up, he slammed her hard with the point of his elbow into her wound, and much to her own unwillingness, she flailed, screeching in pain, flinching hard enough to pop out an eyelid. She managed to get up, breaking herself free from his grip, just running as far away from him and as fast as she could, but somehow she didn't realise till she was knee deep in the pond what direction she'd been running.

And then as she tried to think of what to do next, Botis rushed her from behind with surprising speed for one so large and forced her head underwater. She choked and spluttered, trying to break free, trying to get any air in her lungs or force her head above water but her entire body was under water, and he had her head held down, in the water and for a split second she managed to get her head above the water and the word came out in a strangled whisper.

'Please.'

She was suddenly able to breath as he pulled her out of the water, and for a second of sweet relief she thought he was going to spare her, but that's when he she saw the unwavering look in his eyes and she knew it wasn't so. He was going to kill her, he just wanted to know why she was speaking, he didn't seem too entertained by the noise. Which made her realise he was slightly better than Greg, who tortured his victims to hear them scream, which meant one thing to Lyra right now. Mercy. He didn't need for the death to be painful to mean anything different for him. And no one deserves a painful ending, no one wants a painful ending, so that's why Lyra, choking back on tears whispered.

'Just make it quick. Just snap my neck. Don't make me linger.'

Botis stared down at her, like he was trying to read her, trying to understand, but she realised that like her, humans confused Botis, that was probably why he was so dark, he didn't understand. But then she remembered that several people had all said one thing, the only person Botis cared about was his little sister. She was the key to get him to

'Would you want Ria to die painfully and in complete and utter terror? Or would you want it to be quick, painless, almost like falling asleep.'

Understanding seemed to dawn in Botis's eyes, and he gave a stiff nod, but then he said something that made Lyra realise that her insistence that Orion was the only decent human being to ever become a career tribute was wrong, he just looked at her and said, 'You remind me of her a little, the world was never as kind to her as she deserved either.'

Lyra stared up at him, unable to believe it, but he scooped her out of the water, carrying her to the edge of the pond, and placed her almost gently on the ground, well gentle for someone his size. She rose up onto her knees, picking herself up, and closing her eyes, waiting for it to happen, but then she felt something cold and sharp pressing at her hip, and then she remembered something. She wasn't unarmed.

She could feel Botis looking at her, feel his presence looming three and a half feet above her crouched form, she knew exactly where he was without even opening her eyes. She felt him place a hand on either side of her face. He'd snap her neck any second; it would be over any second. She'd be gone any second. No one would be there to take care of Ike's little sisters. No one would be there to tell his parents how much they meant to him. No one would be able to tell his girlfriend that he'd loved her. And she'd never find out what the heck Toby actually meant when he said... that he loved her.

She didn't even know what she was doing until she did it, and then she realised with a shock what she'd done when the blood sprayed across her face and she heard the loud thump. She forced herself to open her eyes and that's when she saw Botis on the ground, a knife buried deeply in his throat, he spasmed for about two seconds on the ground, before he stopped moving all together and then a humongous boom of the cannon went off and then it hit her. He was dead.

Lyra looked at the blood trickling down his neck, and then at the blood that had spurted all over her hands, face and chest. And all that came out of her mouth were short, sudden, choking breaths as it started to sink in what she'd just done. Tears broke through her defences and she knelt there, gasping for air, unable to comprehend that she'd just done what she was never entirely sure that she could do. She'd taken a life.

'Oh... oh my... oh my... oh my god... no... No... oh god...' she choked out, she ripped the knife out of his neck, part of her having this dull hope that it would resurrect him, and she wouldn't have done this.

But he didn't move, not a muscle, all she could see was the gaping wound in his throat, and the blood dripping off the knife that she'd thrown at him in a desperate attempt to save her own life. And feeling it in her hand she once again she freaked out, and flung it at a nearby tree. And before she even knew what she was doing, she was checking all signs that he was somehow alive, that the cannon was for someone else, no matter how hopeless it seemed. But as she checked everywhere she thought she might find a pulse, she felt nothing.

Unable to stand the blood on her hands any longer she rushed to the pond, scrubbing at her hands and face, trying to get even the slightest drop of blood off her, she threw her jumper into the pond, not caring how cold it made her, trying to get the blood off it before it stained. But even as she scrubbed at her hands, her face, and the jumper, in the freezing cold water, she could still smell it all over her, and even as she thought she got the last of the blood off her, she found a little bit more.

'There's so much blood... so much blood...' she breathed, her breaths coming out in shaky rattles that seemed to, 'so... much... blood... why is there so much blood?'

**_"I was just making sure I hadn't lost you in these games."_**

'No. You lost me Ike. You lost me; I killed someone and now- No! I'm not gone! I'm still here I will not be tool in these games! I'm going home! I'm going home! If I have to fight to the death then so be it! I'm going home! But I won't make this a show! I won't make this be what the freaking Capitol wants it to be! Children murdering children and being okay with it! I'm not okay with it! I'll never be okay with what I've done! No!'

She punched at the ground, tears streaming down her face, but then she felt something in her begin to tremor, as she looked up and saw Botis's corpse once more. His skin turning paler and paler by the second, and more and more blood was pulsing from his neck, staining his jacket and shirt dark red. His body was splayed on the ground, limbs flailed out awkwardly, and his mouth hanging wide open. His eyes staring straight at her, slowly turning bloodshot, she once thought they were just black, black and nothing but black, but she could see now that they were a dark shade of green, with a ripple of slightly lighter green in a ring around the edge of his iris, light in his eyes which she'd never seen before. But she couldn't stand that they were looking at her, gaping at her, knowing what she'd done to him.

She hesitated before moving to his side, and whispering to him, 'I'm so sorry. You showed me mercy and... I did this... I'm so sorry.'

She knew he wasn't going to respond, but even so, she found herself almost pausing like she was waiting for a response, but forcing herself to start moving she knew she couldn't stay here, what if the careers had known where Botis was headed. They could be coming for her any moment. She just couldn't leave him like this though, it seemed so... disrespectful, and in a way, she wasn't able to not show some form of respect to him, whether or not she had killed him or he was going to kill her.

She found herself, barely knowing what she was doing, pulling the pack off his back, not even looking through it to find anything she might need; she just used it to lift his head slightly off the ground. She straightened him up, pushing his legs together, and laying his arms by his sides, clasping his hands on top of his stomach. His face was still out of place, his mouth still open, and his eyes staring at her, so she closed his mouth and set his jaw in a sharp line, and closed his eyes gently with feather touch fingers. But she could still see the gaping wound that seemed to disturb his peace and not even seeming to think about what she was doing, she grabbed a bandage from her pack, wrapping it around his neck, and for a second she almost felt better, almost.

She leaned down and kissed his forehead, it was a sign of respect in District Seven, for both the living and the dead. And even though he wasn't part of their customs, she felt that he deserved it. Because she'd taken his life. Something unforgivable had occurred because he showed her decency, humanity, mercy. She was just showing all the respect she was capable of, not that it made what she had done go away.

She pulled herself to her feet, and even as she grabbed her jacket, shoving it back in her pack, and removing a blanket to wrap around her shoulders, to make sure she didn't freeze her death, she somehow found herself beginning to scream again, 'Is this what you want Capitol? Do you want someone to be taken by death, and see that event destroy the person who caused it? This isn't my fault; it's only your fault Capitol. How you can find this entertaining, I'll never understand. It's sick. It's all sick and disgusting. I'm going to get out of here, I'm going to go home, but here's my question, will I ever be truly out? Because you've destroyed the last piece of innocence I had. You took away my chance of a family because you made my parents' lives so dismal that they resulted to smoking anything they could find to numb themselves from the world. You punished me for feeding myself, your peacekeepers beating me since I was six years old! And in front of the entire district! Removing the chance that I would ever have a friend! And the moment I find a friend, you have him murdered! The only thing I had left was I hadn't killed anyone! And now you take that! You know what?! Try to touch me now! Try to kill me now. Try! I dare you! I have nothing left to lose! Try to stop me now! You can't! Nothing can stop me!'

She knew that challenging the Capitol so directly wasn't going to do her any favours, but she didn't care, it didn't matter anymore, nothing really mattered anymore. No one was going to stop her. She hadn't gone to hell and back to just die. She wasn't going to let the Capitol do anything to dictate her life anymore, she was going to get out of the arena, and then she was going to do whatever she could to spite them. They had taken everything away from her. She was going to do the exact same thing to them.

Her mind lingered even as she began walking off through the woods, did she have nothing left to lose? Or was there still something out there? And in no way could she have possibly known that the one thing she had left, the one person in the world left who really loved her, was letting themselves out of the trunk of a car, and walking into the Capitol, ready to do anything he could to save her. Or at least what was left of her.

***Starts dramatically crying loudly* BOTIS! NOOOOOOOOOO!**

_*falls to knees in hysterics* why? It's not fair! Why?!_

***Grabs Ally by the shoulders* Why do we always get so attached to our bad guys!?**

_Because we love them. Speaking of love, what about Toby's announcement to the world eh? Wasn't that impressive!_

**Well, one things for sure, he's certainly an all or nothing type of guy, because his dad is not going to be happy when he hears this. We're gonna have to sign off now because it's getting late on our end of the universe.**

_Nighty night all!  
>~Ally<em>

**Sweet dreams!**

**~Selina**


	26. True Innocence

Chapter 26: True Innocence

Lilith sighed impatiently from where she lay on the boulder, staring up at the sky. She didn't like it here. There were too many trees, and she wasn't used to this kind of cold. She was from District Four after all; it was a place of beaches as far as the eye could see. And jerks as far as the eye could see as well.

It was common knowledge that in District Four, how you looked was about all that was important. That's all a guy wanted in a girl, that's all girls wanted in a guy. When they thought about who they wanted to end up with in life, anything about a personality was left out; they just described what they found the most attractive. The bitch from seven was too lucky, she got a guy who just wanted her, not her looks, it was far too clear from the way he'd been talking that he didn't care what she looked like. This was why Lilith had begun to hate her own freaking boyfriend; he was just as bad as the rest of the shallow jerks in her district. She also hated the little flee from ten, she was pretty enough but she wasn't exactly stunning, and it was clear enough that Orion wanted her. It wasn't like he was fooling anyone but Shimmer with the act that he wanted her, and Kali and Seir were only half convinced. Botis hadn't bought it either, they both knew, but honestly, they didn't really care that much.

She looked vaguely at Orion who was curled up into a little ball not too far away, fast asleep. Kali and Seir were lying next to each other, both seeming to have one hand on their weapons and their other hand in each other's. Shimmer had been practically trying to cuddle Orion before, but Orion had managed to find a slight nook in a tree only big enough for one person when they were curled as tightly as possible. If that didn't make his feelings towards Shimmer obvious, then what did?

But that was when the Capitol anthem began playing and Lilith looked up in surprise. The others woke up vaguely looking confused. It was strange; none of them had heard a cannon today. Not that they could've really, Seir and Kali hadn't stopped talking since Botis stormed off early, they didn't know the truth about Botis's little sister like she did.

'What? Who died today?' Shimmer muttered, and then looking up only seeming to realise that Orion wasn't beside her anymore.

But suddenly a shock jolted through the careers as the face appeared in the sky, '...Botis...' she whispered.

Kali's eyes widened to the point of coming out of her head. Seir seemed to go pale with dread as he realised that there was someone in these games who not only could, but did take down a career. Shimmer seemed to twitch slightly, not seeming so much upset, but more seeming like someone had just put an ice cube down the back of her shirt. Orion gaped at the sky, not seeming to understand, he seemed to be counting off his fingers, like he was trying to figure out, who on Earth could have done this.

'...No...' Lilith whispered, unable to believe it.

'Why are you so upset? You didn't even like him,' Kali asked seeming suspicious.

'I didn't like him until I realised why he was even in the games!' Lilith yelled.

'Oh and why was that?' Seir asked boredly.

'To help his sister you heartless bastard! He wanted to win to help his little sister!' Lilith screeched, the tears pricking at her eyes even as she tried to hold them back.

'And what's wrong with his sister?' Kali sneered, acting as if this was just a big joke.

'She has an ageing disorder or something. Physically she's eight but mentally she's only about four. Botis wanted to win so he would get the money so he could pay the Capitol to help her!' Lilith snapped, emotions churning inside her like a blender.

Orion got to his feet, coming to Lilith's side and Lilith realised very quickly that he knew, she doubted that Botis would have told him, so how he knew he didn't quite know, but he did, 'She's right, seeing as she's under eighteen there was every chance she was going to be reaped to compete so the Capitol wasn't going to do anything to help until then. But Botis cared to much about her to wait. He didn't care what he had to do as long as his little sister got better.'

'There's a reason why everyone knew the only person Botis cared about was his sister. They were right. She was all he cared about, he didn't care if he destroyed himself in the process, he was going to do whatever it took to help her,' Lilith finished, before glaring one by one at Kali, Seir and Shimmer, 'I hope your happy.'

...

Astra sat in her burrow, thinking long and hard. Botis's death had come as a big surprise to her and while it had shaken her; knowing that someone out there was capable of killing a career, and she doubted that it was another career; it also got her thinking. The Careers alliance had been damaged; it wouldn't be much longer now until the cracks started to expand. It was how it always happened in the Hunger Games she had watched previously.

So this really allowed her to consider something which had been at the back of her mind since they had entered the Arena. It would be a fair bit easier now to convince Orion to join her in an alliance, especially after the past couple of days. After all, he had purposely fallen out a tree and kissed a girl he down right hated to help her, what convinced him to she wasn't sure; but if that didn't give away the fact that he didn't want to be in the Careers alliance then she was a duck.

So that was why she was sitting with her head in her hands, trying to come up with a way to get him on his own and then ask him.

'Well, first of all you should find him,' she told herself.

…

Orion crouched at the river, filling up the water bottles for all the careers as they were far to lazy to do it themselves, spritzing each supply with iodine to purify it so they wouldn't yell at him when they realised that he didn't do it for them. Because by the time they were thirsty, they wouldn't want to wait another half hour to drink it. But that was when he heard a slight crack like someone was stepping on the reeds that lined the rushing water.

Silently he drew his katana, placing the water bottles carefully on the ground, and he stepped into the water. He could feel the water seeping into the top of his boots but he didn't care, he knew someone was there. He waded carefully through the water, being careful not to splash, he couldn't risk a predator knowing he was there. He ducked carefully under a low hanging willow tree, and he could see a vague shape through the leaves, and silently he approached, until he realised who it was.

'Horace?' he hissed in a strangled whisper, shock vibrating through him, he'd completely forgotten Horace was even there.

Horace jumped back, squeaking slightly, looking terrified as he heard someone call his name, and he scurried up the bank slightly, not realising where the noise was coming from. As Orion stepped out from the tree, Horace jumped and hurried backwards from him, then it occurred to Orion, he still had his katana out. Sheathing them hastily, he held up his hands to show he meant no harm, but he couldn't help but notice how bad Horace looked.

There were deep rings under his eyes, he was cut and slashed up and down his arms and he was standing awkwardly on one leg like something had bitten him. His skin was very, very, pale, all the colour drained from his face, looking vaguely translucent, clinging to his bones. He clearly hadn't had a very easy time in these games. Orion also noticed that there was next to nothing in the half open pack near Horace's foot, a water bottle, a bowl, a small flint and a couple of sharpened sticks that would barely pass for arrows.

'What happened to you?' he whispered, unable to keep the care out of his voice.

'...There are MUTT's in here... spider MUTTS... as in really... really... big spiders... I... I barely got away,' he was talking like he wasn't sure how to use his voice anymore, like being alone for so long had been starting to get to him.

'Are you okay?' Orion asked.

Horace shook his head, 'It... it bit me... I... I think... I think it might have had... poison in it... I- I- I don't know-' the fact he didn't know seemed to distress him and Orion decided to give him the easy answer.

'If it's a Capitol creation it was definitely poisonous,' he said simply, feeling so incredibly sorry for the small boy.

'... I-I guess that explains why I've been feeling dizzy,' Horace shuddered.

Orion looked at the half full drink bottle and hesitantly asked, 'Have you been drinking the water straight from the river?'

'Ah... yes... Did I do something wrong?' he said in alarm.

'It's not healthy, and if you have been poisoned it's not helping,' Orion explained.

He hesitated slightly and then pulled the iodine out of his pocket, and walking to Horace's side, pressed it into his hand, 'Put this in the water, and wait half an hour before you drink it, it'll help,' and hesitating once again, he then pulled a blanket and some food out of his pack and handed it to him, 'Here take these.'

'But-'

'Take them,' he insisted, 'Take them and get out of here, the other careers will be wondering where I am, but you need to get out of here, you can't let them find you. It's better to die from poison than the agony they'll want to put you through.'

...

Lyra could feel herself falling apart no matter how hard she tried to prevent it. She could feel herself shattering slowly inside as it slowly became more and more apparent that there was no way to escape what she had done. Even though she knew there was nothing there, even though she couldn't see even a spec of it, she could feel the blood on her hands as she rubbed her fingers together. She could sense it there, she knew it was there whether or not anyone cared, she was a murderer.

She could feel the hilt of one of her knives, pressing against her hip, she pulled the knife out, seeing her reflection in the shiny metal. She looked like death warmed up, her hair was oily and greasy hanging in damp curls that were pulled and loosing form. There were heavy black lines under her eyes, crusty bits of sleep were forming stuck in the edges of her eyes and she couldn't quite remember the last time she'd blinked. There were scratches across her face, there was a graze scraped across her cheek. And she couldn't help but notice the mud and sleet spread across her face, her arms, her legs, ever part of her body was slathered in muck and ice.

She didn't even notice for a while that she'd been scrubbing at her hands for the last half hour, and even as she looked down she noticed that she'd rubbed her hands raw, and her knuckles were blistered. But she didn't entirely seem to be able to stop, and even as she continued to rub at them, her skin split slightly and she could see the blood slowly seep from her knuckles. It didn't hurt at all; she was far too cold to feel the pain.

Something about the way the blood seeped softly from her knuckles, leaking gently from her hand, dripping its way down the tree trunk, onto the snowy ground below her, was oddly soothing. But she watched it emotionlessly, she just watched it, the dark red seeming in such a strange contrast to her world of, black, grey and white, the only colour she saw was in the occasional green of a leaf not quite buried by the snow.

She could feel something watching her, and after a few seconds, she figured out where, in the knot of a tree nearby she could see the ever so slight metallic tinge she'd learned to recognise as a Capitol Camera, they were watching her every move as usual. She had a vague feeling they might be airing this, but she didn't care really. It had been a long time since she'd considered this a TV show, to her it had become a never ending reality of an ice cold war and emotions of fire and darkness.

She fixated her eyes directly at the camera, sizing it up like it was some kind of foe within itself, it never really occurred to her then how much the camera's was a weapon that could be used both for and against her. She frowned, and flicked her fingers at where she knew the camera was, the blood landing against the screen before she hissed in a voice that didn't quite seem to be her own;

'This good enough for you?'

...

Astra swung through the trees quietly and carefully, not wanting to be found again by the Careers because she doubted that Orion could pull a save for her like he had done last time. Especially seeing as the careers were so close to killing him. So far, for all her searching she had no luck with finding the Careers. She had fully rehearsed her speech in order to convince Orion to join her. She was very nervous about asking him, just in case she had misjudged him; he could flat out refuse, he could even kill her, but it was Orion, she doubted he would, but there was still a possibility. And even if he agreed, she had to admit that it would be pretty awkward, although she had no idea why.

She was getting increasingly frustrated because her search still hadn't turned anything up, when she heard loud hoots of laughter coming from nearby. It had to be them; no one else would laugh like that. She at once swung towards the noise, trying her absolute best to stay hidden among the trees and to make as little sound as she could. She assumed that they were just at the campsite, and one of them had cracked a joke because of the loud hooting and carrying on but when they came into view, she saw that that was not the case.

For some reason, they were all circling a tree, howling like demented wolves who had just caught their prey. She caught sight of Orion, who wasn't howling or laughing, he was just staring up in apoplectic horror, so she followed his gaze. She had to clap her hands over her mouth to stop the slight shriek of horror when she saw who was in the tree. Horace, her district partner, was clinging to a branch for dear life, looking so scared that she thought he was going to pass out. Tears sprang to her eyes as she took in the cuts, the slashes, the pale skin and the trembling and she just wanted to jump into the tree beside him and hug him tightly and tell him that everything was going to be fine. She should have never left him alone in here, he was just a kid.

She almost hid her face when she saw Shimmer raise her bow, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Seir stop her before she fired. She was too high to fully hear what was being said, but she could see when Seir jerked his head towards Orion and when his facial expression went from blank to that of stone cold horror so she could guess what had been said.

Her heart rose, Orion was going up, which meant that Horace would be okay. Orion wouldn't kill him, she knew he wouldn't. He would probably just fall out of the tree again or do something else; he could think of something to save Horace; it was Orion he always had a plan. She watched in anticipation as Orion went to the tree and started climbing, waiting for him to make his move which would save Horace's life. She had so much faith in him; she knew he wouldn't kill him. He didn't have a reason, unlike Ike, when he had been protecting Lyra and she had seen how guilty he had felt after that, so she knew, she just knew that Horace would be okay.

Horace was shaking worse than a leaf by now and she understood how scared he was. She really wanted to call out to him, to tell him that he would be fine because Orion wouldn't hurt him, but she couldn't, she just had to wait. But he was going to be okay, she was sure of that.

She couldn't help the tiny frown as Orion took hold of the branch where Horace was perched and hauled himself up. Why hadn't he done anything yet? Why hadn't he fallen out of the tree? It didn't make sense, unless he had another trick up his sleeve.

It was then that he drew his katana and her stomach dropped like someone had tipped a tonne of rocks into it. Her mind reeled, unable to understand what was happening. She looked round him at Horace, who was shaking and crying, and he was obviously saying something but she couldn't hear it. Her eyes went wide and she in-drew a sharp breath as Orion's hand adjusted around the katana's handle.

Her small shriek of horror when he slammed it forward into Horace's chest was drowned by the loud cheers of the Careers and the sound of the cannon which echoed through the woods, the sound freezing her insides. To shocked for tears she sat there, staring forward at Orion as he tore his blade out of Horace's limp body and turned slightly on the branch, so she could see the blood which had splattered over his face, which was twisted into a cold and uncaring expression. His face didn't change as Horace fell from the tree and for the first time Astra didn't see Orion as a boy with a heart and a conscious too big for the world, she saw him as a cold, heartless monster.

Any idea of an alliance, any hope that Orion might abandon the careers to join her vanished all at once, shattering into a million pieces and scattering to the wind. Unable to stay and watch any more she leapt up and sprang into the nearest tree. She leapt from tree to tree, trying to take herself as far away as possible from what she had just seen, as if by distancing herself, she could convince herself that what had just happened hadn't happened at all and it was just a dream of some sort. But that wasn't the case it seemed after the visions didn't leave her mind and after half an hour she stopped, practically crashing into the tree trunk, sliding down to the ground, landing roughly and falling onto her stomach, and slowly the tears begin to run faster and faster down her face, sobbing desperately as it slowly sunk in.

Horace was dead.

Orion murdered him.

She had nowhere left to turn.

...

Orion looked up unable to believe it; the careers had found Horace within about two hours after he had told him to run away as fast as he could. And now Horace was ten meters off the ground in a tree. The careers were all laughing, their faces pictures of savage glee as they took in how beat up Horace already was, and how weak he looked. He was so weak he was barely able to stay in the tree, holding onto the trunk for dear life, there was absolutely no colour left in his face, he was sweating uncontrollably from his temples, and shaking heavily, the vision of terror spread across his ghostly face.

Shimmer pulled out her bow and went to shoot him down, but Seir stopped her, 'Wait a second Shimmer.'

'What?' she pouted, looking disappointed.

'Your kill score is two, don't you think it would be fairer to let your boyfriend take him down, it's been quite some time since his last kill, and the way he's been screwing up lately he needs it,' he said, with a pointed look in Orion's direction.

Shimmer put her bow back across her shoulders, and seemed to accept what Seir was saying, before she nudged him and said, 'Go on up and get him,' she purred.

Orion froze, he couldn't get out of this, he knew couldn't. He could suggest that Lilith go up and handle him, but he knew that if he let her, it would be slow and painful, especially in the mood she'd been in since she'd found out Botis was dead and... If Horace got away then Seir would kill him without hesitation... and then hunt Horace back down and rip him limb from limb. He wouldn't get a chance to fight back; both of them would be dead in mere minutes. One or both of them was going to die no matter what he did. All he could do was to make it less painful but... he wasn't sure if he could do it... he just didn't know.

He was suddenly filled with a strange unconsciousness for everything he was doing. He was aware of the slight crackle of the snow crunching under his boots as he slowly inched forward to the tree. He could feel his mouth quirking as he tried desperately to keep at least his facial expression calm, because he certainly couldn't keep his mind calm. He could feel the rough texture of the bark as he reached up to grip the first of the branches. And then after that, he didn't feel anything.

He barely knew what he was doing as he hitched himself, branch after branch, up the tree. And suddenly he realised he wasn't far away at all from Horace. Horace stared down him, completely frozen, unable to move from where he was and that was when he noticed the steady stream of blood still coming from the gaping wound on his leg, seeping into the already blood stiff fabric of his trouser leg. The bite from the spider MUTT had been left open and the poison must have been delving even further into his system, paralysing him to the spot. He found it was a small miracle he'd been able to get this high up into the tree.

'Orion...' Horace choked out, as he saw Orion's hand slightly change to pull himself up yet another branch so he was now level with the terrified boy, 'P-p-please... d-d-don't d-d-do this... I... I don't want to... I don't want to die...'

Horace looked so positively terrified, so positively broken that Orion couldn't believe it. It didn't seem possible that someone could be this desperate, this vulnerable, but Orion knew deep down, not that it made it feel any better, that Horace wasn't going to last whether it was him that killed him or not.

'I'm so sorry Horace,' he whispered.

And before he could do anything to make it possibly harder for him, he drew his katana and in one sharp jab, he punctured Horace through the chest. There was a sharp gasp, and a scream that tore at Orion's ear drums. He could feel the tears pricking behind his flinched shut eyes, and he could smell the fresh blood that was not only near him, but on him. And after the silence came, he forced himself to open his eyes.

Horace's body was hanging there, limp, only held up by Orion's katana which had not only struck him, but had impaled him to the tree. Orion could see the pain, the betrayal and the grief and the loss built up in his eyes, and even worse they were looking straight at him. His body was splattered with blood all over, and Orion could see little flecks of flesh splattered across his chest and he could see part of the lung and heart in the gaping wound. Unable to take the sight any more without vomiting, he ripped his blade clean and Horace's body fell to the ground, narrowly missing the careers below. But his face didn't move a muscle, it didn't tremor for a second, no one would have been able to tell about the vortex of guilt, self-hatred and anger that was bubbling and boiling inside him.

He leapt down from the tree, part of him half considering going head first so that the fall would kill him, and then slowly he rose his eyes up to look at those surrounding him. They looked far from disappointed, far from angry, sad or pitying. They looked like their birthday had come early. Shimmer was looking blissfully amused, and then kissed him straight on the lips, but he didn't have the energy or the state of mind remaining to push her away, he just didn't even care anymore. Lilith was smiling, but she had this strange cautious look on her face, not that she didn't trust him, more the look that she knew he was probably going to hurl any second. But Kali and Seir were the ones that confused him the most, they sort of glanced shiftily at one another before seeming to come to a sort of agreement, before both of them grinned and said some sort of congratulations that he couldn't quite hear.

The world had gone quiet, and even as he was sure that the other careers were far from quiet, as they danced around, whooping and babbling to each other, he couldn't hear a thing, all he could do was stare at the blood still smattered across his hands and try to ignore the feeling of blood splattered across his face. He couldn't bring himself to look at Horace's crumpled form, for it was haunting him as it slowly sunk in, what had just happened, what he had just done.

'Orion!' came a sharp voice.

The sudden sharp call of his name snapped him vaguely out of his hazy world and he looked up at Seir who had shaken his shoulder, 'Pardon?'

'Come on, we're going to have a break to celebrate,' Seir replied, 'there's only ten people left in the game.'

'...You guys go on ahead,' he said quietly after a moment, unable to be around them in this moment, 'I just need to clean my blade, the blood will spoil it.'

Seir nodded and with the girls in tow, they left the clearing, running off through the trees. The moment that they were out of sight he couldn't hold it back anymore and that was when he flung his katana sideways, as if the blood smeared metal burned his skin and he vomited straight into a nearby bush. He staggered slightly, the smell making him feel ill again but it covered up the stench of the blood and that much he was grateful for. But he had to turn to throw up again as he turned to see Horace's body.

He wiped his mouth in disgust, flinching as he spat out a wad of the vomit-flavoured spit, but as he could feel the bile rising in his throat as he forced himself to once again turn around. This time he forced himself to keep it down and he staggered towards Horace's sprawled form. He forced himself to look at what he'd done, and it was then that he decided once and for all that he couldn't let something like that happen again to someone so innocent, he just couldn't let it happen, he couldn't... and there was no way, even though he wasn't sure how he'd done it after Ike, that he could possibly do this again... he just couldn't.

The worst part wasn't the wound; it was that somehow, Horace's lifeless eyes still seemed to be staring at him, a tear still lingering on his cheek. And slowly he felt the tears track down his face, as he stared at the fallen boy, unable to believe it was him that had done this. Reaching down, he gently closed Horace's eyes, unable to stand them looking at him anymore. But as he turned away his blade caught his eye, and he wet his lips nervously, before he took a few heavy steps forward, and wiped the blood off on a nearby tree before putting it back in his sheath. As he walked away, feeling like crap, tears still hiding behind his eyes, he went back to the careers, knowing now more than ever, that he could never be anything like them.

_HOOOORRRRRAAAAACCCCEEEE! NNNNNNOOOOOOOO *drops to knees screaming dramatically*_

**...Here we go again, she's curled up in a little ball now *pokes* hey, I love Horace to but-**_  
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****_Hey, I have more emotions than you for once. _

**I'm too tired to have emotions, besides... Okay I'm not too tired for emotions! ORION WHY DID YOU DO THAT!**_  
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****_And here come's the bipolar. Selina, we both agreed that it was the right thing to do._

**... Doesn't mean I have to like it! So anyway to our reviewers:**_  
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**Wetstar: We're upset for more reasons than ever now that we've written this chapter, and as for his poor sister, even poorer sister this chapter.**

****_LyzeeAnne: yes, poor Lyra. And we all love Orion's mum. _

**Tigerlynx: GAH! *ducks* Is this quick enough *quivers***_  
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_Greenpokeguy: We try to be different in every way possible. Heh, heh, now that you mention it yes...are you referring to Ursula Le Guin, the author who wrote The Earthsea Quartet which is conveniently sitting beside my bed, although I didn't realise till now? Yes, poor Botis, he shows emotion and dies. Yes, we have a habit of shattering touching scenes like that. Oops. Only almost? _**  
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**Shimmering Bubbles: Well, we're just gonna skip over your quote spree because well, we're lazy, so onto your section labelled proper review. It's okay, when you write reviews as long as yours we can tell that it must take a substantial amount of effort, and science is stupid. Well since when is Hunger Games won by Sportsmanship? So onto your pet peeve, well we always felt that Suzanne Collins takes things to fast! But anyway, we do realise that we're taking it slowly but if you haven't realised, since the Games started there has rarely been a chapter where we haven't killed someone. But then again, the speed decrease slightly, and then something horrible happens, it's how we work if you haven't realised. And if you think we get to attached to our characters to kill them, you seem to forget we're crying writing most of these chapters. And don't worry we will KILL THE CHARACTERS just at our own pace. **_  
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****_Hungergamezluver: Unfortunately yes, they do seem to die when they show emotion. Lyra's and Botis's were very cute messages. Yes, Orion and Botis got on well because of how nice they were. We can't kill Kali and Seir yet, they have evil things to do yet. Are they all going to be okay? Hmm, I can't give you a definitive answer to that one. Don't worry, Zero hour will happen, we're just renovating it at the moment._

**Courts: Everyone keeps saying we update too fast or too slow, make up your mind! Well you can't not love the attack of the amazing siblings. Poor Ria! *cries again* Lyra's in denial, but when you think about it, no one has loved her in her entire life, she isn't used to hearing the term directed at her. And as for Toby, even he isn't sure what his plan is, he isn't the type to plan ahead. And as for being tortured President Snow style, you have not seen Ally style, but wait a few chapters. Love how Botis did the same thing and Lyra kills him for it? Oh so you did make up your mind!**_  
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_CiaraMarie96: Oh no! They stuffed up! At least they're back now right? Attack of the feely monsters! We don't know what we're going to do when we finish either. It will be depressing. But it's okay, because there is a little way to go yet. _

**Earthling 44: Sure their alive now, but you should all be taking bets on how long that lasts. And you think you hate them? Imagine how much we hate them, we know what they're going to do next! Yes you should, because we can't guarantee how long that's going to last either. Oh with Astra's family; the Capitol's lucky there wasn't.**_  
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_So peoples, we hope that you will be joining us next time for our next chapter of Forbidden year, where we shall be having a little...reunion. _**  
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**The more you review, the better we get! *kisses***_  
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**~Selina**

_Toodleloo our dear readers, we'll see you later because...we're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oz._

_:) Ally_


	27. Bittersweet Meetings

_*Peeks around door of bomb shelter* Hey Selina, I think that there's a lull in the attack._

**You can risk your ass going out there if you want, I'm staying here practising my duck, cover and scream.**

_Well, the rotten tomatoes have ceased for now...nah, I don't want to become a rotten fruit salad today. I'll stay here and play cards with you Selina._

**I think we're missing a joker.**

_Now I wonder where that could have gotten to._

**Joker! Joker! Where for art thou? It must have disappeared with the reviews!**

_*searches under bed* well, it's not under here and neither are the reviewers._

***opens cupboard* I found some, could use some more though, but anyway, shall we go through them?**

_Yes we shall Selina, yes we shall, to Earthling44: Well, it's not that we hate them, it's that we love them so much, so we have decided to love to hate them, if that makes sense. You're right, this isn't doing any good for his mental health. _

**Kat-rue: It's fine, we understand, we just suffer states of withdrawel when not to many people review. And as for your last comment... huh?**

_LyzeeAnne: Woah, long review! We love you! *pulls out organ and starts playing here comes the bride* We agree, it is heartwrenching. Will she end up like Annie, who knows? Will she end up marrying an attractive person? Who knows. We agree, poor boy, poor poor boy. Yup, only ten left, only ten, the numbers ever dwindle. Careful, here come the Capilolians! Dun Dun DDDUUUNNN! Yes, they do underestimate him, so beware Kali and Seir! I don't know, what can be said of Astra? You're right she was shattered, let's just hope she can bounce right back again soon! Yup, Lilith is an interesting. Yes, look our for here come the MUTT's! Why is this year forbidden? Well, be patient, because it will all come to light soon. _

**CiaraMarie96: RIGHT IN THE FEELS! Yeah, and the worst thing is we give them such good death scenes that it hurts even more to know how much pain their in. Oh you'll see whose Ally-ing (worst pun ever? I think so!) in this chapter, read on! Oh she did, she hasn't stopped talking about it for the last week, the emerald city must be amazing.**

_Theatre Ninja: Awesome name buddy! Awesome name! Is it possible to do all those things at once? *ducks from random fruit* apparently so. _

**Hungergamezluver: Firstly, did you notice you mispelt your own name? Don't worry, it happens to me all the time, just thought I'd point it out. Don't worry, crushes on fictional characters is one of the first signs of being a fan girl, welcome to the dark side my friend. She's planning to go back, she says the wizard's cheeks are pudgey. Okay, you see with Zero Hour... we kind of scrapped the version you read and started re-writing it (and a comic strip too) we're going to post it as soon as possible, we just got a few of the chapters back from our new Beta, but we'll have to find a new one because she's going to Germany.**

_Wetstar: Yup, bye bye Horace, we will miss you. We won an award?! Whoop whoop whoop! *starts doing little victory dance and forces Selina to join, much against her will*_

**Tigerlynx: Why thank you *curtsy* I tried telling her that, I really did.**

_Finnicklovr4Ever: Well, we had to kill his eventually, it was either death by Spider or death by Orion, he didn't have much of a choice. We like all of them too. No promises as to who stays alive. Muhahaha._

**Before this chapter begins, we have a slight warning for you all:**

_*Warning* All aracnophobes must be aware that this chapter may leave you slightly scarred. We hold no responsibility for nightmares or outbursts of Arcnophobic fear. _

Chapter 27: Bittersweet Meetings

When Lyra woke, she could smell smoke, it was the very strong scent of smoke that cautioned her to the fact something was wrong and very quickly she looked down. The careers had camped out under the tree she'd slept in last night, how they didn't notice her all night, let alone her not notice them was surprising. She looked down, all of them were sleeping except for Lilith who was perched on a stump looking weary from where she'd been sitting on watch. And Lyra vaguely knew what she was capable of doing from right here.

It would be all too easy to shut Lilith up, climb to a tree behind her, and either jump down on her, or hit her with a knife from behind. And with Lilith quiet the others would be simple as long as she stayed quiet. She could move over to Seir, who would be the most difficult to kill if he woke up, and just slit his throat, nice and easy. And get Kali too while she was there, they were sleeping with absolutely no space in between them. By that time the cannons might have woken up Shimmer, but she wouldn't be a problem, she'd be too tired, Lyra could have a knife buried in her chest before she even got half way to her feet. She could kill Orion, she knew she could, it wouldn't be that hard, she could do it, not that it would matter anyway whether she did or didn't, he wasn't a threat to her, and as long as he wasn't a threat to her, she wasn't going to become a threat to him.

But that wouldn't give her the answer she craved. No, no it wouldn't, she needed to know who killed Ike, she needed to know, their death would have to be equal to the pain they'd caused her in return.

...

Astra didn't quite remember going to sleep, and wasn't entirely sure when she woke up, because she figured she must have just been sitting there staring into the nothingness before her for hours. It wasn't until a slight beeping eventually entered her mind, not that it hadn't been there for quite a while, from one of the little parachutes. She looked up, drops of ice softly falling from her eyelashes, and not sure at all what she was even feeling or supposed to be doing, she began scaling the tree, towards the shiny silver light in the tree.

She sat in the tree, perched like a small budgie on a branch, blinking hard almost as if she wasn't sure what she was even seeing, before she shook herself out and reached for it, breathing a silent sigh of relief when she realised it wasn't an illusion. She grinned and opened the package and a little box fell out, but she went for the note first, almost desperate for some kind of human contact.

_Astra, you've been so brave and I'm so proud of you, I never thought you'd get this far. I know that yesterday's events shook you, they've been hard on me to, but you have to understand, that things aren't entirely what they seem with this. Horace had two days left at the most, he was already dying, and Orion knew this. I know it may be hard, but Orion's affection towards you might be your only way out of the arena, you know that he cares about you, and you know you still care about him whether you want to or not._

_-Joel_

Astra stared at the note, unable to fathom it's contents. It seemed impossible that Orion could have had a reason for doing what he did and yet at the same time she wanted more than anything else for Joel's words to be true. But she wasn't even sure if they could possibly be true, Horace was so innocent, and Orion had done this but... Orion never did something without a good reason... but she had only known him for two weeks, and all that she'd seen could have been an act... but why would he have risked so much to help her... but if he'd risked so much to help her then why wouldn't he have risked the same to help someone as innocent as Horace... but then again he did know that Horace was dying and if he was already dying it could have been more painful to go out another way rather than Orion's way... but Orion's way had been so mean!

It confused her, it really, really did. She realised there was still a box on her lap, and slowly she pulled off the lid, but instead of what people usually got in the games, food, water, medicine, weapons... something survival-y, she got cards. A small deck of playing cards. And then she realised, this was the deck Joel always had with him, it was the deck that he and Horace had spent hours playing with, it was the deck that she'd thrown around the room when she lost the game, and it was the deck that she and Orion had played a few rounds with the night he'd snuck up to her room.

She noticed that as discreetly as he'd been able to, Joel had carved into the side of the box a small phrase, "You lost one of my jokers." And before she even knew what she was doing, she was laughing and crying, and shaking, and smiling and gasping for air, unable to understand what she was supposed to be feeling at all. But then slowly Astra noticed something, slowly turning to look above her, she was confronted with a face, a face she'd more than rather not see.

The eyes were black and beady, the head covered in a fine layer of black hair, she could see fangs in an almost sort of eerie, toothless smile. Liquid dripped continuously from the fangs, in a rich, venomous green, the many legs were stuck out at weird angles covered in a thick, bushy, black hair that seemed to stick out in razor sharp barbs. It balanced weirdly from a web made of blood red thread, standing out in ridiculous comparison to the snow and trees. It was the size of a small car, and frozen in shock Astra stared up at it, as it opened its pincers like tweezers, preparing to strike, then something occurred to Astra, she was Arachnophobic.

Her high pitched scream rang through the air, as realising what was going on, she leapt to the nearest tree, but missed the branch by a few millimetres and fell out of the sky, landing roughly on her stomach, knocking all the wind out of her. Forcing herself to get up, she bolted as fast as she could, and unable to contain it, she continued screaming. She leapt over fallen trees and stumps, dodged branches that tried to whip her in the face as she ran past, but she could hear the spider, leaping through the trees, crushing branches as it went, and Astra looking behind her after the spider, crashed into a tree.

She could feel one of her fingers snap as she caught it against the tree, but she couldn't stop, she just couldn't stop. Running for dear life, trying to find some way out of this situation, still screaming, she bolted, tears running down her cheeks as she realised that this time, she really was done for. She had no where left to go, no one left to turn to, all she had left was a couple more minutes of running and a rather endless supply of screaming. But as she blinked tears from her eyes, knowing that her end was inevitable, no matter what Joel had thought, her foot caught on something, and she slid along the ice on her back, crashing into yet another tree, sprawled on the ground. She could feel the spider moving towards her, and she felt chills run through her veins, this was it, she was going to die whether she liked it or not. And at the hands of a spider, her great childhood nightmare coming true. But something in her seemed to break, as she removed the short sword she'd gotten from Ike's remains, and she was suddenly ready, she was ready to take care of her own destiny, all bugs could squished.

She slashed her sword at the spider, cutting it on one of the legs, but the spider looked at its leg, looked at her, looked back at its leg, and then smacked her hard with a different leg. She could feel her skin cut and graze and blister at the spiders touch, and she knocked her head against the tree so hard that it almost knocked her out, but as her world started to go hazy, she heard a kamikaze like cry and there was a sudden whip through the air and an odd squelching sound. And as her vision cleared, she realised something, the spiders head was on the ground, it's legs had all bunched up within each other encasing its body, and Orion was standing there, sweating and panting, a stream of bright green blood dripping from his katana as he slowly raised his head to look at her.

'Are you okay?' he whispered.

She stared at him, slowly getting to her feet, unable to comprehend what was going on, but she vaguely nodded, and Orion not seeming to care at all what he'd just done, dropped his katana and pulled her into his arms. Astra didn't necessarily want to hug him, not after what he'd done yesterday, especially after what he'd done yesterday. But somehow she found herself pulling herself further and further into his chest, crying softly as she held him as tightly as she could. She didn't think he particularly deserved a hug, but at the same time it felt so good to be close to someone, to be so close to him.

'I'm so sorry, I should have never left you alone in here,' he whispered into her ear, a choke in his voice that she'd never heard before.

Astra only started crying harder, hugging him tighter and tighter, unable to say anything, just so glad that he was here. But all of a sudden, and out of no where, Orion let go of her slightly, looking deep into her eyes, staring at her like he wasn't even entirely sure what he was supposed to be feeling, or if what he was feeling was actually real, or possible for that matter. She looked up at him, her eyes still filled with tears, but something in her almost seemed to half understand the emotion pulsing from him.

'Ah Astra...' he said gently, pushing away a bit of the blonde hair that was hanging in front of her eyes, 'I-I need to say something... I-I-I it's just that... I think I... I know I...'

Suddenly Orion stiffened slightly, his entire body going rigid, his ears almost seeming to twitch, as he looked around like a startled rabbit who had sensed a predator in the woods. He quickly let go of her, pushing her away gently before stepping backwards, his hand slowly coming to grip the katana sword still sticking half out of the ground.

'Orion... what's... what's going on?'

Orion was already visibly flinching, 'You've got to try to get out-'

But whatever his warning was, it was to late, because in that moment, Seir crashed into the clearing, axe out, with the look of a blood thirsty mad man glinting in his eyes. And right behind him, and considerably quieter, Shimmer came, bow aloft in one hand, looking like a paranoid vixen. And both of them looked from Orion, to his barely held blade, to the giant spider corpse, to a very freaked out looking Astra.

'...Orion...' Shimmer said carefully.

'What?' he asked like he had no idea what she was talking about even though she'd said essentially nothing.

'What the hell is going on here?!' Seir yelled furiously.

'Ah... well... I'm considering a career as an exterminator... Unfortunately I didn't have a slipper or a bug swat so I had to resort to other... less orthodox methods to... get rid of the... incredibly large spider... Ah...'

'Yes, I can see that, I'm just wondering why _she_ is still alive,' Seir said coldly.

'What? Do you want me to kill her?' Orion responded pointing at Shimmer.

Shimmer looked a cross between insulted, and down right furious, 'Not me you dimwit!' she shrieked.

'I'm sorry, he wasn't specific enough,' Orion said all to obvious that he was stalling, 'Who am I supposed to be killing Seir?!'

'Her!' he yelled furiously.

'But Shimmer said that I'm not killing her, so who am I supposed to be kill-'

'Her! The idiot brat from ten!' Seir yelled absolutely fuming by this point.

'Now you could have just said that from the start now couldn't you, you would have saved yourself a lot of trouble and me a lot of confusion,' he lectured looking already like he was running out of ideas.

He sort of vaguely turned around and said, 'Oh, Astra, when did you get here?'

'...' she just stared at him, unable to say anything out of fear, before she just squeaked lightly, and took a step backwards.

'Oh come on you two, look at her, she's unarmed, I don't know if I can do that ethically speaking-'

'The boy from seven was unarmed, and so was the boy from ten!' Seir yelled.

At those words Orion searched Astra's face, and when he didn't see an inkling of surprise in her features, he realised with a shock, she'd seen what he'd done. But he had no time at all to dwell on that, he had to think of something to save her.

'Well technically the boy from ten had a hunting bow, not that he was in much of a condition to use it but still... And the boy from seven... well... he had... that,' his eye suddenly caught the reflection of metal at Astra's feet, the short sword was half stuck in the snow, from where Astra had dropped it, and he couldn't help but ask, 'When did you get that?'

'This?' Astra asked picking it up, tilting her head on the side in confusion.

'There! She's armed now!' Seir yelled, 'Kill her!'

Orion was clearly hesitating once again when Seir smacked him in the small of his back with the shaft of his axe, sending him stumbling, 'Kill!' Seir commanded.

Orion had no options left, and slowly he picked up one katana half lying in the snow, and pulled the other katana from the case on his back. Re-gripping the handles a million times, unable to even consider what he might have to do, he knew he couldn't.

Astra squealed and took a step backwards, her tiny sword held aloft in one hand, holding it between her and Orion, part of her filled with the fear that like with Horace, Orion caring for her was an act, and he'd just kill her anyway. Because it was just so easy for him to do it. Orion very slowly sent a slash towards her, which she managed to fend off with a small parry, stepping back again, shrieking in fear. And once again, Orion's swords moved as he stepped closer to her, going to her other side, and she barely managed to parry it away. His eyes were filled with such confliction and confusion, and she could have sworn he kept glancing upwards as his blows came again and again, as he swung his katana again and again, as she barely managed to dodge and parry again and again.

But suddenly there was a colossal thunk, and Orion was down on the ground, and Astra had never thought it was possible to be so glad to see someone. She never thought that she'd be so glad to see someone knock Orion out in less than a split second. She never thought Lyra would jump out of a tree and land on top of Orion... well at least not deliberately.

'You know, that would have looked ten times better if I'd been wearing high heels,' Lyra said boredly, before she nudged Orion with the toe of her boot, 'Whoops, he's unconscious, now that is what I call a well positioned jump- Ah ah ah Shimmer, no shooting.'

Before Astra even knew what Lyra had done, Orion's limp form was being dangled from Lyra's hand by his hair, a very sharp blade at his throat. She didn't seem even unnerved by the situation, looking, if anything, calm, deathly calm. She didn't seem to be blinking at all, and she had this very... unhesitant look in her eyes, like she had stopped caring about anything or anyone all together.

'Well isn't this a delicate situation Seir?' she asked sounding almost cheerfully, but at the same time, slightly deranged in her speech.

'Put him-'

'Ah ah ah,' she warned with the air of a mother telling her child not to run with scissors, 'You don't seem to realise that if you take another step forward, not only does your little friend here get his throat slit, but you're not going to live to tell the tale.'

She slowly let her jacket slide open slightly, so he could see the large array of knives that lined the inside, a small smile fixed on her face, 'You're bluffing,' Seir said flatly.

'Really? Am I?'

'You can't kill, you aren't capable of it. Killing is something only the strong of mind can do, the deadly and undeceive can do,' he hissed, 'You're too delicate, you're too weak.'

Lyra's small stream of laughter was enough to chill anyone to the core, 'Too weak? Too weak? That's what your friend Botis thought and look where he ended up. Dead on the riverbank, knife in his throat, no headstone for his grave.'

Seir started to laugh for a few seconds, but then he saw the look on Lyra's face and then he realised something, '...You're serious...'

She smiled again, a small laugh coming out, 'Yes, I'm perfectly serious. I don't lie. And you won't live if you lie to me.'

She laughed yet again, seeming so perfectly deranged that it was enough to make Seir take a step backwards, and Shimmer to drop her bow to the ground, 'Don't hurt him, just don't, what do you want?' Shimmer whispered.

'Who killed Ike?' she asked flatly.

Shimmer and Seir exchanged confused looks with each other, not understanding the question, 'Who?'

'Yes, who. Who killed Ike?' she hissed.

'...Who's Ike?' Seir muttered to Shimmer.

Lyra's eyes crackled with electricity, and a knife flew from her hand missing Seir's head by millimetres, but within a split second there was another one in her hand, 'My partner. Six days ago, your pack killed him,' she said dangerously, 'And I want to know who did it. Who killed him? You tell me now or I slit Shimmer's little boyfriend's throat!'

But Seir almost seemed to smile before he said, 'Well, I don't think our answer will really help Orion's situation.'

Lyra could sense the underlying message, but she couldn't believe it, 'You're lying to me,' she hissed.

'Oh really? Why don't you ask your little friend behind you? She knows we're telling the truth,' Seir said calmly.

Orion half woke up, a groggy groan coming out of his throat, but Lyra slammed the hilt of her blade into his temple, before turning to look at Astra, 'Astra, tell me the truth, did Orion kill Ike?'

'Um... Well...' she said awkwardly.

Suddenly an intense rage absorbed into Lyra, and you could literally see her shaking, as she turned to look down at Orion, 'You... you did this... how could you do this... you...'

Her hand tightened around the hilt of her knife as she wrenched his head back, his throat ever so exposed as she stared unwaveringly at him. Her eyes glowing with tears, but the rage and the anger and the turmoil overpowered it.

'You did this,' she hissed.

'Lyra you don't understand why he-' Astra began.

'He killed Ike!' Lyra yelled, 'No reason is good enough to excuse that! He killed him! He killed him! I'll kill him!'

Lyra seemed to be truly insane, and it was clear enough how sure of her nearing actions she was, but suddenly, she stopped, knife pressed up against his throat, a small bead of blood lightly trickling down his neck, and said in such a deadly whisper that the deepest winter didn't seem cold in comparison, 'You know what, you looked him in the eye, you looked him in the eye, and you still did it. And I'll do the same to you. I won't kill an unarmed man. I won't kill someone who looks so pathetic, who is so pathetic. I won't stoop to your level, I won't kill someone who can't fight back.'

Seir began to move forward, but Lyra's head snapped upwards and in one swift movement she threw Orion at him, knocking him back as the full weight of Orion's motionless body knocked his legs from under him. And without even seeming to hesitate, she turned around, slung Astra over one shoulder, and bolted.

'Put me down! Put me down! Put me down!' Astra yelped, but then seeming to realise Lyra was in no state to cooperate with anyone, but then suddenly she squeaked, 'Seir! Seir! Twelve o' clock! Twelve o' clock! Axe! Axe! Axe!'

But Lyra half turned around, and then the knife disappeared from her hand and Lyra kept running. Astra still bouncing on Lyra's shoulder, watched as all of a sudden, Seir collapsed, a loud blurt of pain screamed from his throat.

'What did you do?!' Astra shrieked.

'Knife to the knee cap, I don't think he's walking for a while.'

'...Ouch... Ah... Lyra, can you put me down now?'

'Nope, don't argue with me right now. I am _so _not in the mood.'

'Didn't think so.'

It must have been at least half an hour later that Lyra stopped running. How she had the stamina to run so fast, for so long and carrying Astra the whole time, she wasn't sure, but she had the feeling that Lyra had stopped feeling anything the moment Ike died. She pulled up shortly, and placed Astra roughly on a boulder, before wiping some sweat off her brow, stretching slightly and turning to look at Astra.

'Are you okay?'

Astra hesitated slightly, but then nodded, 'Yes, I'm fine. My question is are you?'

Lyra paused before shaking her head and said, 'No. I don't think I am.'

'Did you really kill Botis?' Astra asked.

Lyra seemed like she wasn't sure how to say it but eventually she said it out loud, 'Yes, yes I did.

'Why?' Astra asked simply.

'...Because... because it was either him, or me, and... I made a call, I'm still not sure if it was the right one,' she whispered.

Astra looked at her, she could see the still visible turmoil spinning through Lyra's mind, the fact that she showed such conflict over her actions was how Astra truly knew Lyra wasn't completely insane, 'Lyra, why did you save me?'

Lyra looked up at her and gave her a small, strange smile, 'Sweetie, your one of the few people in this arena that it's completely clear to me, that you deserve to live. And you're the only one that I know can help me.'

'What do you mean?' Astra asked, sensing the slight proposition.

'Since Ike died... since Orion killed him... since I actually managed to get up and stop holding myself in grief... I've been looking for you. I wanted to talk to you, I needed someone that no matter what, had hope, I've never had that. I was kind of hoping, you'd like to join me,' Lyra said extremely carefully.

Astra slowly smiled at her before saying, 'Sure I'm not going to get in your way?'

'Your more useful then you realise, then I think anyone realises,' Lyra shrugged, 'Interesting things are always happening around you, and there is a reason that you aren't dead yet, the weak don't last in this place for very long.'

Astra stared at her and said, 'The only reason I'm alive is because Orion keeps saving me. I know you must hate him after... what he did to Ike... but... he's been looking out for me the entire time I've been here, I don't know why but-'

'A little thing called a crush Sweetie,' Lyra said flatly, 'And yes I hate him, but he's got a soft spot for you and I'm more than willing to exploit that.'

'Excuse me?'

'Don't worry about it. So are we agreed? Is this an alliance?' Lyra asked.

Astra smiled at her and answered enthusiastically, 'Sure, call me your partner in crime.'

...

Shimmer sighed impatiently as she watched Kali tend Seir's knee from the corner of her eye. Occasionally Seir would swear loudly, especially when Kali removed the blade, and Kali was constantly hitting him around the head as he kept on trying to move away.

They had been forced to move their campsite, which Lilith had not been happy about, because of the state of the two boys. With Seir's broken knee it had taken both Kali and Lilith to get him back to the small clearing where the dead spider was still shrivelled up, and because Orion was still very much unconscious, there was no way that the three girls could get both of them back to the original spot.

She looked down at Orion, who lay beside her, vaguely covered by a blanket, as he remained stubbornly out of it. A bruise was forming across his temple, an acrid shade of black, and there was a small cut which had oozed blood into his hair, but by now had clotted and was starting to scab. Shimmer couldn't deny how furious she was at the district seven bitch for doing this to him, and she was even pissed at the brat from district ten for leading him into a situation where someone could do this.

It must have been ten or so minutes, not that she had any real way of knowing, when Orion's eyelashes fluttered and a slightly pained, groggy moan escaped his lips.

At once Kali looked over with an obvious sneer, 'Oh, so pretty boy is finally deciding to wake up is he?' she hissed.

Shimmer sent a withering glare in her direction and moved so she was between him and them. Orion raised one hand to his head as he opened his eyes weakly, focusing on her, eyes glazed as he looked around dazedly.

'Shimmer?' he muttered, 'what're you doin' here?'

She sighed, 'We're in the arena silly, of course I'm here.'

He frowned up at her, before moving his arms to push himself up, but she placed her hands against his shoulders and forced him back down. The look of confusion in his eyes was obvious when Shimmer removed her drink bottle from her pack and, supporting his head, held it to his lips.

'Drink up,' she said softly.

Orion obeyed, taking a few sips before he suddenly stopped and looked up at her, 'It does have Iodide in it?'

'Yes Orion,' she said patiently, 'I'm not as much of an idiot as you think.'

A slight guilty look flashed across his face, 'I never said that.'

'No, but you think it multiple times a day,' she smiled gently.

'How do you know?'

'As I said, I'm not an idiot,' Shimmer said, 'now, you probably shouldn't sleep. You have a concussion.'

Orion held her gaze for a few minutes, eyes exploring her face, a tiny frown creasing his brow as he tried to figure something out, but at last he nodded painfully, 'Okay.'

Shimmer smiled in approval, and settled herself down beside him, chatting away to him, forcing him to reply, but her eyes flicked to look at Kali and Seir, who were looking over at them, eyes hard, loathing obvious in their depths. When she looked at them they quickly looked away and began to whisper quietly together, the ominous rumbles reaching her ears as a quiet undertone and no matter how hard she strained she couldn't hear what they saying, but she really doubted it was good.

...

Kali slapped Seir's hands away roughly as he tried to get her to stop in her ministrations and she literally sat on his leg to keep it still as she tightly bound it. The knife from the district seven bitch had almost completely shattered the knee cap from what she could gather just by looking and as such was causing Seir a huge amount of pain, although he would never admit just how much it hurt.

'Suck it up and shut up Seir, if you want to walk, or for that matter breathe again, you'll sit still,' she hissed but suddenly she turned and looked up, noticing the poisonous look in Seir's eyes directed at the now conscious Orion, 'Oh, so pretty boy is finally deciding to wake up is he?'

Shimmer shot her a withering look but she ignored it but looking up at Seir she said as quietly as possible, 'Are you still sure about Orion?'

'What do you think?' he hissed, pain obvious in his voice, 'He ran off without any explanation and when we got there he was standing less than two feet away from that brat from Ten, a dead spider MUTT beside him. He then pretended that he hadn't noticed her, stalled for about ten minutes and when he finally moved he was fighting her so pathetically a two year old could have figured out he did not want to do it!'

'You know perfectly well that's not what I was talking about, I'm talking about the fact that you think that it was part of this conspiracy to kill the boy from seven to get us to trust him. Look, the way Shimmer talked about it, she was ready to kill Orion when she found out, nearly was insane while talking about it, and then seemed in the mood to give him a pretty damn painful send off for doing so. Seir, is it just him and ten, or do you think seven is still involved and playing us?'

Seir held her gaze for a few seconds, thinking deeply, before he shook his head, 'If she is involved, it's not willingly. My guess is she has no clue what's going on. Orion and Ten are in this together and no doubt are using Seven's temper to their advantage. Either that, or they're all in it and simply acting with the insanity and the-holy crap Kali do you have to do that?!'

'Well I was just making sure it was broken, it clearly is, I was always going to kill that little bitch, I just have an even better reason now,' she said shrugging, 'She's a far more dangerous player than we ever realised. We can take Orion out, we've always been able to, now it's not a matter of if, it's when. But Seven... she did kill Botis, there's really no question of that, no one else could have, she's more dangerous then we anticipated, and if the unhinged thing isn't an act...'

'Which I have very high suspicions it's not…' Seir continued.

'Then we may have a problem!'

'We can deal with her when the time comes though. For now, she's slowed with Ten.'

'So what do you recommend? We take out Orion?'

'As soon as we can. If he put his mind to it, I bet that he could take out most of us, and if he is a conspiracy, how do we know that that isn't his plan?'

'To get us with our guard down and strike?'

'Yes.'

'And we're not going to let him do that, but we have to pick the perfect moment, we can't upset-'

'Upset Shimmer?' Seir asked almost sounding soothing, 'Kali, you know it just as well as I do. We don't need the others.'

'Shimmer and Lilith, they both would go with Orion given the choice,' Kali pointed out, 'We can't exactly split off in the most traditional manner, we're good, but we're not that good. Orion's probably capable of taking us both out, especially with your knee, and Lilith and Shimmer would help him.'

'I don't think we can risk staying with them any longer, we should just leave-' Seir insisted but Kali jabbed him hard in the knee, instantly causing him to shut up.

'Not with that knee,' she insisted, 'We wouldn't get a mile on that before one of them caught us.'

'Then we wait. We wait until we manoeuvre him into an 'accident' and get rid of him without us having to deal with the others,' Seir suggested.

Kali nodded in approval, 'that sounds like a plan. The only problem is, we don't know how long we'll have to wait for a perfect moment.'

'Who says we have to wait? We can create one, if we must.'

Kali smirked, her dark eyes glinting, 'Then we'll manoeuvre him into it and all our problems will be solved.'

'I just hope we get to see the life fade from his eyes,' Seir smirked.

'I just hope that the little brat from ten is watching, she deserves to see her little hubby die in the most excruciating amount of pain we can manage to cause,' Kali purred, murmuring in his ear to make sure that Shimmer who kept glancing back at them couldn't hear them.

Seir pulled her closer to him, deliberately pulling her away from his knee at the same time though, 'Your brain is the most entertaining thing on the planet.'

Kali grinned at him, her eyes filled with malicious pleasure, 'My next magic trick involves Orion's corpse.'

**~Selina**

_Selina, I see the Bat symbol in the sky! I must go! _

_Ally :)_


	28. Game of Ice

**...Uh hi guys... we're aware it's been... quite some time but... please don't hate us!**

_Yeah, it's only been what?… Two and a bit months… since we last updated… right Selina?_

**…Yeah something like that, but we've been busy!**

_Very, very busy indeed. For those of you who read our original story Zero Hour, you'll know that we've been updating that very rapidly._

**So for that to happen, this had to be put on the back burner temporarily. But we'll always love this story, even though updates are going to be slowed, due to our original story's progression, which you can find on fictionpress and wattled if it interest you.**

_Ally of you can rest easy in the knowledge that this story will never ever ever be abandoned, it will be completed because we have so much planned!_

**We love this story and it will one day be completed, we assure you of that!**

_No matter how long it takes, we will get it done._

**Now, onto the reviews, we got a large amount this time,with 19 reviews on the one chapter, and boy do we love you for it!**

_Wetstar: well, at least you got to read it. Silly computer and alerts! A years supply of ice-cream? Yay! Yes she could, but will she? Especially now that she knows. Massive ew for the enormous spider. Unfortunately Astra isn't to good at being quiet, especially when being chased by a spider. Professional spider killer! Yes, insert organ music, the careers have come and Lyra could kill him! :O Just wait, their alliance will get even better. Nothing wrong with being a like able psychopath. ;) hope this next chapter is up to the same standard._

**Pr1ncess1: Why thank you, we love our characters very much as well. Oh it's a classic Lyra moment, she's never been too proud to express herself, and I do understand your reservations, hoping to hear from you once again your highness *curtsies***

_Sydney: have no fear this will be continued, we love it too much to stop! It makes us so happy when people tell us how much they like our story, attack of the warm and fuzzy's!_

**Ciaraaawrrr: Well, we try to get everyones hopes up as much as we can, unfortunately the nature of this type of story makes us prone to crushing them. Oh we kinda like Seir as well, he's funny in a psychopathic way, like Kali. We love you too! And we won't, we definitely won't (well someone has to come out of the arena, but no promises, and who knows what happens after that either?)**

_Guest/thebooklover: we have updated at long last, have no fear. Please don't hesitate to bug us forever, we a) love getting the reviews and b) being bugged helps us to stop being distracted. Here is another chapter for you, we hope you like it. _

**Unknown Apple: Ooh, now that is a description I like to hear. We try to make them as cute as possible "Astron?" "Orstra?"… why is my head jumping to Ostrich? Well it mostly came out of the fact that Lyra is a person that rarely trusts, and she did have quite some trust in Orion, it was to hard to process instantly, and well… she's slightly insane, if anything can redeem it, it's that. Oh we were planning on getting to it, and we showed the spied before. And as for the avalanche theory… can we say you read our minds Apple? Are you psychic or is just that you know us to well? And as for the snow, the people who wouldn't have been prepared for it, have mostly been killed off by this point, if they'd lasted any longer then we'd permitted they probably would have been. Ooh praising time! (And don't worry about the semi-negative criticism, it's constructive and we're always looking out for second opinions) Astra and Orion are finding each other, one step at a time, and I know how you are Apple, I cried on and off while writing the messages. RIGHT IN THE FEELS! Oh Shimmer is capable of being a decent human being, it just comes and it goes. And trust me, if Shimmer gets the shot, she is going to take it (pun intended.) We love our evil little minions as well, their entertaining… and as for Greg… you really don't want to encourage Ally, it's a bad idea. And Apple, you have no idea how happy it made me when you remembered, thanks so much, and all the luck in the world to you for the HSC, hopefully you get some time to relax these holidays!**

_Hunger-games-fangirl: an awful lot of people seem to want these two to die. We shall see shan't we? No, sadly not...:( Well she might...or she might not...you must read to find out._

**Catlan: We're glad that you enjoy this! And apparently, that answer would be now!**

_Earthling44: yes he is very very lucky...so far...muhahaha. Well, he might...but he might not, he might decide to continue to be stubborn. How did the shopping work out? _

**BlueBirdieTweets: The funny word in that phrase is "little" she is definitely a little unhinged! And as her creator, I'm happy to hear that she's your favourite! Selina isn't actually my real name, I just love it, and I love the name Serina as well! We will, we will!**

_Hungergamezluver: no judging, I sometimes forget how to spell the word 'the'. Well, we're updating pretty rapidly on it now, we're up to chapter 13 if you wanted to check it out. They will be an interesting alliance to say the least. You'll have to keep reading to see if forgiveness is imminent. Will they kiss? Again, you'll have to keep reading if you want to find out...they might...but then again they might not...it is a question yet to be answered. Nothing wrong with a bit of fangirling...cough cough Peter Parker cough cough... Hee hee. We're very sorry we haven't been updating...but we have now. _

**Kat-rue: Gah! *ducks* …sorry, reflex. Once again, no promises, we can't promise who we save and who we kill. Oh everyones getting confused, it's a point we're trying to make. Oh we'll both try to go and read it. Love you Kat-rue xxo!**

_ONTO THE CHAPTER!_

Chapter 28: Game of Ice

'Why are we climbing the mountain? Who would want to climb up a mountain?' Astra asked, complaining loudly, from where she panted behind Lyra, crawling along the ground, wrapped in a blanket like a caterpillar.

'No one would, that's the point,' Lyra said briskly as she walked confidently beside her.

'I don't get it-'

'Because no one else would want to climb all the way to the top, it might be the safest place for us to hide, if we get up there and the careers come after us, we'll see them coming long before they can sneak up on us,' Lyra explained, 'Could you please get up Sweetie? You're slowing us down with the whole worming along the ground thing.'

'I think I worm a lot faster than I walk up hills, but okay,' Astra said trying to make Lyra smile, just a little.

Astra got to her feet, and shook snow off her blanket before wrapping it even tighter around her small body. She and Lyra had been allies for about four days, and it had been less than eventful, Lyra didn't seem to talk as much anymore, and when she did, it didn't always make the same level of sense. It was all too clear the tax losing Ike had on Lyra, and knowing who did it wasn't helping, especially seeing as from what Lyra had told her about what happened that night, the times that Lyra had misjudged someone, had put Ike's life on the line. She had misjudged someone and now Ike was gone, and that had made Lyra lose a lot of faith in who she was and what she knew.

Nothing Astra had said to Lyra about Orion, telling her that Orion had been trying to protect someone else, had made any effect on Lyra's decision that Orion deserved to die for what he'd done. And no matter how much her faith Orion had been shaken constantly, she still just knew that Orion didn't want to do all the horrible things that he'd done. She didn't know how she knew, or how she could even think that, but she just did. She didn't really care who said no, she had faith in Orion; she had to believe in something.

Lyra walked, her face blank and unfeeling as she walked up the eighty five degree slope with absolutely no trouble, like they weren't walking at an almost vertical angle. This was something Astra was having considerably more trouble with, she hadn't grown up in the mountains like Lyra had, and she wasn't so determinedly single focused. Lyra knew what had to be done and saw no point in even complaining about it or considering otherwise for a second, Astra didn't seem to think that saying "It's cold," or "I'm tired," every now and then was that much of a crime, but every time she did, which wasn't that often, Lyra would just give her this world-weary look and it would shut Astra up instantly.

'Lyra?'

'Yes Sweetie?' she replied with no feeling in her voice.

'It's been five days...'

'Since Horace? Yes,' Lyra said calmly.

'It's just... Don't bad things start happening when it's been a long time since a kill?' Astra asked, the thought occurring to her out of the blue.

'I guess so, but who knows, maybe Orion's complete lack of a soul was enough to shut the Capitol up for a time.'

Astra forced herself not to respond to the comment, so instead she sighed, 'There are ten of us left I guess. They're not necessarily going to go after us.'

'It's foolish to think that they won't,' Lyra said bluntly, 'We just have to try to find a way to keep ourselves safe for a time until- are you sure it's ten?'

'Uh yeah, pretty sure,' Astra said seeming curious about why Lyra was questioning it.

'So there's us, there's the career pack, there's Ursula and there's Greg, who else is there?' Lyra questioned.

'Uh... Not sure, but I was counting down, there should be ten of us left,' Astra shrugged.

'Maybe your math forgot to take out Horace,' Lyra shrugged.

'Or maybe Botis, the career pack in my head has a unfortunate habit of being a set number at six-'

Lyra swept the legs out from under Astra in one quick movement, instantly making Astra shriek loudly as she crashed back into the ground, 'What was that for?' she asked, sounding remarkably hurt.

'I'm sorry... I didn't mean to do that, I just hear... that name and... Sorry I didn't even realise I did that till I did that, I'm sorry Sweetie, let's get you on your feet,' she said coaxingly.

She helped Astra up, guilt ridden all through her face, but even though Astra knew Lyra hadn't meant to, she knew one thing was for sure. Never bring up someone Lyra has killed without her permission. She could only hope this was a one off thing.

...

The way the wind was blowing on the mountain side was far more unpleasant than the wind anywhere else in the arena. Because there was no cover so far up, the wind was already taking the absolutely freezing temperatures down even more and to make matters worse was blowing the snow in a near horizontal fashion against the careers faces.

The vileness in the weather was only a small factor in the iciness between the entire group though. Lilith was leading them up the slope, comfortably ignoring every member of the group behind her, it had been a long time since she said anything less than basic to any of them. Shimmer plodded behind her, having to go in the middle because her weapon was all but useless in these conditions, but for once, she was not complaining, as she seemed to have gone beyond that point. Perhaps the two in the worst moods were Orion and Seir, who were also in the middle of the group. With Seir's knee, he was unable to physically walk without assistance, sure he could stand if he put all of his weight on his other leg, but he couldn't walk, especially up a mountain. So that was why Orion was helping him, as he was the only one who was able to, which put the two males into a far closer proximity to each other than either really liked. Kali was behind them, bringing up the rear of the group, but instead of paying attention to anything behind her, her malicious eyes were fixed on Orion's back, as if she was hoping that he would give an open invitation to stab him.

'We're nearly at the peak!' Lilith had to yell back to them, as the wind was making it hard to hear, 'I think the weather clears on the other side, we're on the exposed part!'

'We'll have a break at the top then if there's shelter, Seir's knee needs a rest,' Kali replied.

'No it doesn't,' Seir tried to insist.

'Yes it does, now shut up! Come on Orion, help him!'

Orion just rolled his eyes, annoyance sparking through him as Kali ordered him around. Although he would never admit it, Seir was pretty damn heavy and he was pretty much half carrying him up parts of the mountain, which meant that his shoulders had long since gone numb under the district two boy's weight. That and his head was starting to hurt again, which was annoying, but thankfully he was able to ignore it.

They were very nearly at the peak, when suddenly, over the wind, he heard something, voices, and when he listened more carefully, they came to light as female voices.

'Why are we climbing the mountain? Who would want to climb up a mountain?'

That had to be Astra, and even as he felt his heart leap as he heard her voice, he knew it was definitely not a good time. He knew it had to be her, who else would ask questions like that? The next voice was Lyra's, he assumed as he listened.

'No one would, that's the point.'

It sounded as if it was coming from in front of them, on the other side of the peak, but thankfully the vision was so poor here, that the careers couldn't see them. But it would only be a matter of time until they were either seen or heard, unless he did something to either delay the Careers, send them back down the mountain a different route or somehow, get Astra and Lyra to run.

Suddenly, Kali's head snapped up and she almost seemed to sniff at the air like a rabid wolf, 'I just heard something.'

That made the other careers stop and turn to look at her, obviously confused, and Orion realised that gave him an opening, 'I think it was an animal cry, from back down there,' he pointed with his free hand back the way they had come, 'We're a bit short on supplies at the moment…it could be worth sending a few people-'

'Shut up Orion,' Kali cut him off, 'No one's going anywhere, especially not you.'

'Then you and Lilith go, you're pretty good hunters,' Orion tried to push the issue, at the same time though he knew that he couldn't send Shimmer and Lilith off, something inside him knew that if he opened himself up to being left alone with Kali and Seir, it would end badly.

'Why not Shimmer?' Kali questioned.

'Because, absolutely no offence to Shimmer at all, her weapon is useless in these conditions,' Orion explained.

Kali was just about to respond, when suddenly they heard a very loud squeal, and there was no way Orion could pin it to an animal, because it was so obviously human, and to him, he knew that it was Astra.

Kali looked smug, 'That sounded like the little brat from ten, and don't tell me I'm wrong. I think we'll have a little fun today after all!'

...

'It's been five days since someone's been killed,' Seneca Crane pointed out as he paced around the control room, one hand stroking his beard as the rest of the game makers looked at him.

'That may be true sir, but this games has the capability of having the highest tribute caused death count, fourteen at the hands of another tribute, there are ten players left and none of them are ignorant enough to not be prepared for the icy conditions,' Saffrah reminded, one of the most promising junior members of the Game Maker group.

'And we certainly do love such a violent games, but the Capitol is getting bored. The only entertainment there is right now are the two alliances failings, the Career Alliance on the point of bursting and the alliance between the girls from Seven and Ten becoming stranger and stranger,' Seneca pointed out, more so talking to himself out loud rather than anyone in particular, before he turned on his heel to look at Plutarch and asking, 'Show the positions of all the Tributes on the map, where do we have the most tributes within about a mile radius from each other?'

'Sir, we have eight tributes within a mile radius of one another,' Plutarch said as red lights flashed up all across the holographic arena map in the centre of the room, 'And seven of those are within a two hundred meters of each other.'

'You've got to be kidding me,' Seneca said striding towards the hologram, 'Zoom in to them.'

'Near the top of the mountain sir, the two alliances have been drawn to the same place,' Plutarch said as the view of the mountain top became bigger, flashing with bright red lights that indicated the position of a tribute in each place, 'We have the tributes from District's One and Two and the girl's from Four, Seven and Ten extremely close to each other, what do you want us to do sir?'

'Hmm...' Seneca thought, stroking his beard once more, before asking, 'How far away are they from the top of the mountain?'

'About a hundred and fifty meters sir,' Vayda said, a new recruit to the Game Makers who was far too eager to please, she was ambitious, she wanted to get to the top as quickly as possible.

'I see,' he said, 'Then I think it's time we brought a little snow fall down.'

'It's a near blizzard conditions in there sir,' Saffrah reminded.

'I don't think you understand what I mean; I meant we're going to have to start an avalanche if the tributes aren't going to start killing each other.'

'Are you mad Crane? We miss-time or underestimate this avalanche we wipe out eighty per cent of the remaining players, if we end up with just two players left after this little ploy, then it completely ruins the games,' Plutarch insisted.

Seneca gritted his teeth in irritated, he and Plutarch never saw eye to eye, but Plutarch was definitely a contender for the position of Head Game Maker if he did anything to stuff this up, so he did something that would mediate the damage, 'Plutarch, I don't intend to start with an avalanche, a shockwave, bury them in the snow, it won't kill any of them unless they don't get up in time. After the shockwave, the smartest will have already started running away before the true Avalanche happens-'

'Sir!' came a sharp voice, Vayda was looking at her screen in concern and he instantly hastened to her side.

'Yes Vayda?'

'The Career Pack has the girl's from seven and ten surrounded, it looks like they're going to kill them, what should we do sir?'

Seneca Crane thought long and hard, he couldn't rush this decision, it would change the entire games judging on what he did right then, and he wanted this to make it clear that he deserved this position, by making it one of the most spectacular Games that had ever taken place before, 'What fun is a one sided war? Take out the Seven slash Ten alliance and there's no contenders against the careers. Send out that shockwave.'

...

Lyra and Astra stared in shock as they realised with a terrible thud, they'd been surrounded. They could see through the wind that was whipping snow into the air, shadowing everything from view that there wasn't a single direction they could take. Shimmer was behind them, Kali was in front, Lilith to the left and the awkward duo of Seir and Orion to their right. Lyra slowly turned like a cornered rabbit, her ears twitching as she tried to think of some way out. But as her eyes fixated on Seir and Orion, her lip curled in a snarl and she said quite calmly.

'Seir darling, how's the knee? Is your boo boo alright?'

'Boo boo?!' Kali hissed angrily, 'You shattered his knee cap!'

'I did? Wow, my aim is better than I thought!' she said sounding thoroughly amused, 'And One, how's the head?'

'Bruising sufficiently,' he commented in a strange casual tone.

'Good, I'll be sure to hit you harder next time.'

'Oh I'm sure of that,' Orion commented casually, ignorant of the loathing filling her tone.

Astra then proceeded to whisper to Lyra, 'I- I don't think he knows that you know about...'

She stopped short of saying Ike's name, she knew it wouldn't go down well, but Lyra's eyes glinted in fury and she said, 'you little rat bastard, how could you do that to him? He trusted you!'

Orion looked at her and you could see the horror dawning in his eyes as he realised that she knew, he bit his lip sharply, hard enough that he could taste blood in his mouth, as he was once again forced to remember what he'd done. The look in Ike's eyes when he'd killed him, the look of complete and utter betrayal. And in that moment he just couldn't take it, it was all too much and shoving Seir off him he walked away about ten meters, and just closed his eyes, massaging his temples, sitting down, dumping himself on the ground, tears slowly working their way through his shattered defences.

Astra stared at him, seeming to want to go over to him, but she saw the look of continued loathing striking through Lyra's features and she knew that if she went near Orion that Lyra would probably go on a killing rampage. She gripped Lyra's wrist gently, pulling it slightly away from the knives at her hip, trying to do what she could to calm her down. But Lyra wasn't shivering from cold anymore, she was shaking from the silent, white rage building up in her system as she slowly began to tremor like a half unplugged blender.

'Come back and face me coward! Look me in the eye! Tell me what you did! Don't I deserve to hear it straight from the murdering swine's mouth?! Don't I deserve that?! Because I certainly deserve to kill you for what you've done!' Lyra was screaming sounding so positively deranged that it was chilling.

'Ah Lyra, okay, we're calming down now-'

'No we are not!' Lyra screamed furiously, her eyes crackling like lightning.

'Okay, okay,' Astra said sounding half freaked out, half unsurprised, 'We're not calming down then.'

'You're not going to kill him,' Seir said calmly, and even as everyone turned to look at him in shock, for Orion had clearly just revealed that he was not cut out for the career pack in the slightest, and yet he was still defending him, but that was until Seir said, 'Kali and I will. Shimmer you can take out this little insane asylum here, you did say she was yours from the beginning and Lilith, you can take the worm.'

Shimmer and Lilith both were exchanging extremely satisfied smirks about the targets they were given, but Shimmer kept on glancing at Orion like she was trying to think of something she could do to help him. But Orion still in such a state didn't even notice Seir was limping up behind him until he was pinned to the ground with Seir's axe resting barely a few centimetres above his throat. Kali was laughing loudly as she moved closer to Orion and Seir. Shimmer and Lilith had gotten extremely close to Lyra and Astra, but despite the fact Astra was cowering behind Lyra, Lyra looked extremely calm.

'I'm sorry Shimmer, but this whole "you're going to kill me thing," doesn't work for me,' Lyra said simply.

'Of course it doesn't, it ends with your death,' Shimmer growled.

'No, it doesn't, in fact it doesn't really work for anyone, because you see in five, four,' Lyra began counting down still surrounded by a world of calm.

Orion seemed to know what Lyra was going on about despite the fact she still sounded slightly deranged. And as she said, "three," he kicked Seir straight where he was injured, forcing him to cry out in pain and stagger backwards into Kali, before he got up and started running towards Astra, barging into Lilith as the number, "two," was spoken.

Lyra had begun smirking because even before she said the final number, the ground was shaking and it seemed almost hauntingly obvious what Lyra had realised was about to happen even as the final word left her lips, 'One.'

Instantly there was a sudden rush of snow clattering towards them, bringing boulders and trees down with it. Lyra leapt skywards, narrowly missing the rush of snow, but getting caught slightly on a rock, knocking her off balance. Orion ran forward like a maniac, grabbing a still freaked out Astra, pulling her into his chest to protect her from the sudden shock of snow.

The careers, caught completely off guard, all screeched in horror as they were knocked backwards and dragged at least two hundred meters down the mountain side as they were buried in the snow. But even though it stopped for a moment, Lyra was soon back on her feet, grabbing Astra out of Orion's arms, and pulling her down the mountainside, running like a maniac.

'Why are we still running?' Astra asked as she was buffeted along the ground, not quite having been able to stand up as Lyra dragged her along.

'One, careers, two, that was just a shockwave, the proper avalanche is going to come within the next... ten seconds?' she said desperately, her eyes alight with fear.

'Is that bad?'

'Yes, very bad... you don't even know what an avalanche is, do you?' Lyra puffed, still desperately running down the side of the mountain.

'Ah... no, but I think I'm about to get an idea!' Astra suddenly screeched.

Lyra looked over her shoulder for a small moment and hissed in anger, 'Crap! Here it comes. We've got to keep moving!'

'Or we could run left about two hundred meters and go hide in those trees which aren't going to get hit by the avalanche,' Astra said with the air of someone not knowing how good their idea actually was.

'My little sweetie, why couldn't you have said something before?' Lyra spat out and instantly hooked a left and began running as fast as her legs could carry her over to the trees, 'I couldn't see where the edge of the avalanche would be!'

'Well you never asked if I had any ideas,' Astra said, managing to stagger to her feet, still running on alongside Lyra, struggling to keep up with her boot only half on her foot.

'Nearly there sweetie, nearly there,' Lyra panted still running, but not entirely seeming to have her eyes open.

Astra could hear her heart beating much louder than the roar of the avalanche, her ears were ringing and all she could think of was what was going to happen if they didn't make it in time. She felt a few small flecks of snow, flying ahead of the avalanche beginning to splatter at her as the adrenaline kicked in and she ran faster than she ever had in her entire life, and feeling the trees nearing and knowing this could be the moment that decided whether she lived or died, she jumped for it.

The relief she felt flooding through her system, when she felt the rough grip of the tree bark in her hands, and she could still feel Lyra's hand clawed to the back of her jumper. They were alive. They were alive. She could feel the snow scraping along her back, clearly the tree hadn't been as far out of the range of the avalanche as she thought but even as it knocked against it, the tree held, mostly, even though it bent over under the sheer force of mother nature/ the Gamemakers and she reconsidered how alive they really were going to end up being.

She looked up at Lyra her bright green eyes shining with relief, still koala griped to the tree, as she whispered, 'We- We- We made it.'

Lyra nodded, ice splattered across her face, but the clear amount of gratitude for her luck shone through, 'Yeah... we did.'

But almost immediately as Astra felt herself almost relax, she noticed something sweeping past them about a hundred meters away, 'Wait, a second, that's Orion, I know it's Orion.'

'Don't you dare leave this tree,' Lyra said forcefully, her eyes sparking with anger at the mere mention of that name.

'Wait a second, he's not staying up to well... Lyra... I think he just went under... Lyra, he just went under.'

...

Orion floundered uselessly in the snow, gagging as it filled his nose and mouth, unable to breathe. For a second he managed to burst up, sucking down oxygen for a brief second before he was pulled under again. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't see, he was so cold he had lost feeling to his hands and feet, he was going to die. His heat raced, he could hear it thudding in his ears, over the roar of the snow and his own desperate, pathetic gasps for air. He didn't want to die, not now, not like this. With another desperate burst of adrenaline, he managed to break the surface again to draw another breath before he was dragged down again.

Suddenly though something caught against his leg tearing the skin and his remaining oxygen was used in a muffled yelp of pain, before his head slammed brutally against something hard and solid. His vision flared white as excoriating pain fired through his skull, but that was the last thing he remembered before he lost consciousness.

...

Astra raced out onto the snow, disregarding Lyra's calls and the huge amounts of debris scattered across the snow covered mountain. She didn't know exactly where Orion had gone under last, or where he would be now, but she had to find him. He had saved her life after all and now she owed him. Whether Lyra liked it or not. Besides, if anything proved that he didn't want to do the things he'd done, it was the look on his face atop the mountain when Lyra had reminded him of what he'd done.

'Orion!' she called out across the snow, but the only thing which answered her was a sad croaky, sounding bird and the whistling wind.

At last she reached the spot where she thought she had last seen him and slowed down. She turned back to see Lyra lying on her back and glowering at the sky, not paying any attention, so she went back to her search.

Picking up a long, sturdy looking stick, she began prodding the ground with it, driving it into the snow. If she felt nothing, she pulled it out again. A few times she struck something solid, and felt her hopes plummet each time she uncovered a boulder or a stone.

Suddenly though, the stick connected with something and she dug down again. This time though, instead of finding a stone, she brushed the snow away from a hand. A human hand. She let out a cry of delight as she took the hand in hers, ignoring how icy cold it was. She didn't know who it was, the skin had turned vaguely purply blue and the rigidness of the fingers made her unable to know for sure whether it was Orion or someone else entirely. But still it was someone and her fingers fumbled over the wrist, feeling desperately for a pulse.

'Orion? Is that you?' she cried in delight as she lightly pressed her fingers against the wrist.

But it was then that she realised, no matter where she felt, there was nothing, no pulse, not even a twitch.

...

Seneca Crane stood in the centre of the circle of game makers who were all tapping away madly at their key pads, watching the screen which was broadcasting the avalanche. The image continued to switch between the various cameras so he could see every single thing that was happening.

On the wall beside the screen was a series of monitors, which displayed the vital signs of all the tributes which remained in the arena. Only ten of them actually had readings now, the remaining fourteen were all blank.

'Show me the girls from seven and ten,' he said, and the image on the screen changed.

The two of them were now out on the snow, although the girl from seven was lagging behind a fair amount, before she collapsed onto the snow, and glaring up at the sky.

The girl from ten though was prodding into the snow with a large stick, as if she was searching for something and occasionally, they heard her call over the snow, in a loud, urgent voice, 'Orion?'

'Sir, the vitals for a few of the tributes are failing,' Saffrah called out, and Seneca looked over at the monitors.

Sure enough, two of the monitors were displaying a sudden decline in the vitals of their tributes and he had to smile slightly.

'Monitor them both closely, but prepare a cannon for the district one boy.'

_Snow ball fight! Only with lots of snow...moving at high speed...intended to kill...forget snow balls, run away!_

**Run for your lives! There are two bodies buried already with timers on how long they'll last! We don't want to raise the death toll!**

_So the more you review, the more likely it is that at least one will survive._

**You see, deep under the snow lies our dear Orion, and there's a price on his continued survival.**

_Yes, and we know that many of you will not be wanting his death, so we'll make a deal. If we get twenty plus reviews, we may or may not decide to be nice. If we get twenty five plus though, his chances of survival take a massive leap up._

**Someone will be killed by this turn of events, but if you care about Orion or (as some of our fans are) love him, you will review. Twenty five reviews mean he will almost definitely survive, what are you willing to do to guarantee that?**

_So please, drop a few words in the box below! _

_Now if you'll all excuse me, I must go and destroy the one ring in the fires of mordor! _

_Ally :)_

**And the elves are waiting for me, and as patient as they are, you don't want to keep them waiting.**

**~Selina**


	29. Glacial Heartache

**Well readers, we're back, we know it's been quite some time... but either way, we're back!**

_It's only been what...three, four months...how time flys right?_

**...Whoops... But anyway, we've been overwhelmed by our fan base once again as our review total skyrocketed and passed the two hundred reviews mark!**

_I know Selina, it's amazing. I think we've gotten something like 29 reviews for one chapter. We LOVE you guys!_

**We've actually been writing this fanfiction since the sixth of April last year, it's nearly our anniversary, but according to my math which probably is slightly off, but with 29 chapters, that's one chapter every twelve days, so looking at that, it's not that bad.**

_We've nearly been writing a year, give or take a few days. Impressive._

**I know right Al, really most people have either finished or abandoned their fics by this mark. You've got to admit, we stick around. And we swear, the next chapter won't take as long, we have the holidays coming up soon enough!**

_We cross our hearts and make a solemn vow to you, our dear readers, the next chapter will only take two months to update instead of three. Joking, Selina's right, our holidays are coming up soon, we'll be updating quickly._

**Don't scare them like that Al, be kind. I mean, we're threatening to kill Orion, and they've still stuck with us. And now it is time for our reviewer section; to thank all the wonderful reviewers who have given us the encouragement and feedback we needed:**

_Orion Ehra: Well, that was a lovely, somewhat pessimistic review. I'm sure we can forgive you for not pointing out those other points, I think that was a rather impressive amount for thirty seconds. Hmm, Greg as a surgeon huh? I don't know, the hospital might lose popularity._

**GreenBamboo: Hey! You found us, the amazing reviewer from Zero Hour appears! You found us just in time for us to update, give or take a week or two, Astra and Ally are the same character just with a few minor differences, I know you've talked about loving her before, so I thought you'd like to know.**

_Wetstar: Hello Wetstar, we are very happy to see you indeed. Yup Lyra is definitely having problems and Kali is annoying. I don't know, you'll have to read to find out if Orion is breathing._

**Anneka: You never fail to amuse me with your reviews, attack of the wild fangirl each time, you'll see, you'll see darling.**

_Hungergamezluver: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…wow, that's a lot of reviews. Orion appreciates the support in his time of need. So you want to hear from Toby eh? Well, read this chappie and your wish may be granted. Have no fear, the amount of reviews we got may have encouraged us to be nice…maybe. _

**Catlan: Yes! Yes we did!... And then we got distracted, whoops our bad!**

_Tanith Low: Uh-huh? Really? Interesting. Wow. Okay then. Well, thank you for the review. _

**Guest: Wow, you did like to make a point of trying to save him! We do love a persistent reviewer.**

_I-Angel92: you're right, she probably would. Thank you for the review. We love getting them (in case we haven't made it obvious.)_

**Trapinchh: Hello fellow Pokémon lover!**

_Clamkid: *Accepts cookies* We don't know. With the amount of support our three tributes are getting we have to do that to avoid a mass Riot._

**GreenPokeGuy: Speaking of fellow Pokémon lover, hello Green! Oh it's Astra, she bounces back pretty quickly. And the other casualty? You'll have to read to see!**

_LyzeeAnne: Yup, a show down with the twos and Orion would be fun to watch. And throw in a clueless Shimmer for comic relief and that would be the perfect battle scene *strokes chin thoughtfully and ponders*_

**Earthling44: Anger issues and can't be trusted with projectiles? Sounds like Lyra! Well never, underestimate Orion's stubbornness coupled with the magic of the Capitol technology, theirs always hope. And as for if the odds are in his favor? Well, the odds depend on the evil authors, and of course, the wonderful reviewers!**

_Pr1ncess1: Whoopsies. It's okay, the extra review helped the count along all the more. I'm sure Orion is really loving all the support he's getting. And we're loving all the reviews. Thank you and we hope that this chapter doesn't disappoint. _

**BlueBirdieTweets: That's possibly the calmest assessment of the situation I've seen! Wow, I'm impressed. Hope we continue to be nail-biting, it's a compliment we love to hear!**

_Kat-rue: And we most certainly do not want a hollow and sad Astra. That would not do at all. This story would become very depressing if that were to happen to our little ray of sunshine._

**Ciraawrrr: We're glad to be missed, and chances are, we'd probably let you, we love him a lot as well. Oh gotta love the Kali/Seir ship, ten points to you if you can think of a brilliant ship name for them, because Kair and Seli just don't seem to capture it for me. Astra's heart is on the line, just read the chapter for answers!**

**And with our thanks given onto the chapter! Stay with us loyal readers and reviewers!**

Chapter 29: Glacial Heartache

Deep within the arena it was all too clear that the avalanche had left a deviating effect. Throughout all of Panem though, nearly every person watching were desperate to know who it was that had been buried deep beneath the surface of the snow. Even as Astra struggled to pull them out using the mere hand she had access to and her own meagre strength, it was to no avail as Lyra sat boredly against the snow, not taking any interest in what was going on.

'Lyra, please help me!' Astra pleaded desperately, tugging fruitlessly at the arm.

'Why?' Lyra drawled, still lying on her back, staring at the sky.

'Because there's no guarantee that it's Orion,' Astra said, trying to dig into the snow to unearth more of the person, 'It could be someone else.'

'Like a career you mean?' Lyra said disinterestedly.

'Maybe not. There are more people in the games, please help me!... What if it's Ursula? You'd want to help her, right?'

Astra stared imploringly at Lyra, desperation radiating from every fibre of her being, determined to convince Lyra to help her. It was all to obvious too Lyra that it wasn't Ursula, who would be the only person Lyra would want to help. But obviously sensing that Astra wasn't budging. Seemingly knowing that even if she wanted to move on, Astra would stay to dig out the person in the snow. She let out a long suffering groan and picked herself up off the cold ground and stomped over to her.

'Stand back Sweetie,' she snapped and plunged her arm down into the snow.

...

A tour group was being taken through the training centre, people from all over the Capitol took these tours. It was where they could see where the tributes slept, where they ate, where they lived. They saw videos from the days the tributes spent in training, where they could see evidence of why people got the training scores they did, where they could see the actual weapons that they used in training and the replicas of what they had now.

There was even screening of footage of the tributes in their dorms, how they interacted before the games began and a question and answer session with the stylists of surviving tributes. And if they were lucky, they'd run into the former victors who had now become mentors. Not even seeming to be aware that several were being paid to _accidentally_ stumble into the tour group.

The people of the Capitol were in all colours of the rainbow, in ridiculous shoes, makeup and jewellery. Their skin was tinted, their hair was in the most elaborate styles imaginable, they'd sparkled and shone and bedazzled themselves to the highest form. And with all of them having dressed up special for the occasion, it meant they were all more ridiculous than usual. But all of them were so preoccupied with themselves and what they were being shown that none of them really seemed to notice the person who was sticking to the rear end of the group, not saying a word, keeping to himself.

He was dressed in Capitol style, but significantly toned down then the rest of the tour group. With platform shoes, dark blue hair, a jacket with massive shoulder pads, he looked distinctly Capitol. But his face was left in the shadows by his fringe and of course a rather large hat he was wearing, he lacked the openess and self promotion that every Capitolite had.

If the people of the Capitol, had they seen his face, or heard him speak for a moment, would have gone into hysterics. The people in this tour group were the obsessives, who didn't miss a minute of the games. None of them would have failed to recognise him. So he kept silent, and he kept his face down, this was his chance.

They were showing the group of Capitolites a replica of the axe the male tribute from District Two was using, talking about each of the lives it had taken. Cady, Chance and Farrow had all fallen to it, but even as they swooned and got more and more excited, they didn't notice at all the look the man at the back of the group was giving them. His expression dark, filled with loathing and hatred and disgust, but there was a level of fear there. Something that would have made no sense to someone who didn't know who he was.

He seemed to have hit a point when he was positive that the Capitolites no longer knew he existed. Then much to their ignorance, he stepped out of the ridiculous shoes he was wearing and began making his way back down the corridor. They'd been shown through a window where all the mentors watched from, and he knew that was where he had to go. He hadn't quite figured out what his plan was yet, but he knew that the only person who could help him would be Xandra. If anyone could help him, it was her.

There were no guards on the inside, they were certain that no one would be able to get in without the necessary clearance. They didn't seem to realise that the door to the Avox quarters was left wide open. Thus all the guards were on the outside and there was no one around to notice that man as he walked down the corridor briskly, his socks making no noise on the ground in comparison to the platform boots he'd been wearing before. But as he rounded the corner, he was forced to stop, moving back around quickly to hide himself. Because this time, there were guards on this door.

He doubted they were necessarily there to watch for intruders. It was far more likely they were there to watch the victors. Because if anyone could go against the capitol, it was undoubtedly the people in the next room. He cursed silently, not sure what he was supposed to do, but little did he know, someone had been following him since he'd broken away from the group, and had been watching him almost since the moment he'd got in the building.

'Now how are you planning to get passed them?' remarked a curious voice.

He froze, not recognising the voice, freaking out slightly. Had he been caught? Was it all over now? Or could he fight his way through this? He turned around, and still, didn't quite recognise the person standing behind him, even though he had the distinct feeling he'd seen him somewhere before.

He was only probably a few years older than him at the very slightest, but he clearly wasn't from the Capitol. He was tall probably the same height as himself, with a muscular frame of someone more from work then effort, but then again, their were elements of both. His hair was a bright copper and his eyes a rather remarkable sea green. He seemed amused by the whole situation, rather than finding any of it alarming, or particularly surprising.

When he didn't say anything however, he just quirked an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to try to explain what he was up to. They both ended up staring each other down for at least a minute, both daring each other to say something. But as it turned out the familiar stranger was more stubborn. Probably because he didn't have anything to lose.

'…It's not what it looks like.'

The familiar stranger cracked a smile at this, 'Oh really? The least you could do was attempt a Capitol accent, if it was good enough I may have just let you pass through with no questions,' he smirked.

It sounded like a District 4 accent, there was a definite accent change between the districts, and the moment he realised that he remembered very quickly who it was. He was a former Hunger Games Victor, he remembered him very distinctly. He'd stayed in his house while they were on the victory tour. He'd been in the next room, heck he'd been in the middle of a mental breakdown by the time he got there. He may have only been ten at the time, and then fifteen the next time he'd seen him but he definitely remembered him.

'Finnick,' he realised.

'Not bad, any Capitol person would have realised it was me and fan-girled in three seconds flat,' he observed, still seeming amused by the situation.

He thought quickly and hastily, when he'd met Finnick, the moment the cameras were gone, he honestly did seem like a decent and at the very least reasonable person, maybe he'd understand, 'Look, it really isn't what you think-'

Finnick however grabbed him by one arm and started dragging him down the corridor, and straight into the victors room, bypassing the guards with little care before throwing him to the floor and loudly asking, 'Does this belong to anybody?!'

...

On the mountainside where Astra and Lyra stood, Lyra was feeling around, up to her shoulder in the snow. Still trying to get a good grip on the body in the snow then, with an almighty heave she wrenched her hand up, dragging the buried person up with a huge amount of force. With a grunt of contempt she untangled her hand from his hair and threw, what was after all that confusion, Orion down onto the snow surrounding them.

Astra let out a cry of delight, and scrambled over beside him, checking his pulse frantically on his neck, and let out a deep sigh of relief when she finally felt it. Lyra, for her part, stood back, a cruel, loathing filled sneer creeping across her face, curling her lips and narrowing her eyes. Her breath came heavier as contempt glinted in her eyes, shaking her head in mild fury as she spat out roughly.

'You're a crafty little bastard aren't you? Every time I have a chance to kill him, you have to go and look so damn pathetic,' she hissed before kicking him in the side in anger.

Astra looked up from where she was fussing over Orion for a second, before she looked back down at him. He did indeed look pathetic, no matter how you tried to look at it. He was pale, lips and fingertips a scary shade of blue, he was no longer shivering, he must have been passed that stage of cold. Blood coated practically half his face and hair from a deep gash somewhere in his hairline and one of his trouser legs was ripped, with blood staining the white fabric. His breathing was coming in strained pants and Astra could feel his to slow heart rate.

'We need to get him to shelter. He'll die-'

'Good! Leave him here for the Careers to finish him off, they can have fun with their so called team-mate, ' Lyra snapped, taking Astra arm and attempting to drag her to her feet.

'No, Lyra, we have to help him!' Astra tore herself away with a greater force than Lyra would have expected from her.

'Give me one reason why! And it'll have to be pretty damn good!' Lyra hissed murderously.

'Whether you like it or not, even you owe him Lyra, he's been working to help you almost this whole time,' Astra didn't stop to think, the words just came flying out.

'He has not! He killed Ike! Or have you forgotten? He killed my partner! He murdered him-'

'To protect you Lyra,' Astra pleaded patiently, 'don't you see?'

Lyra let out a frustrated animalistic snarl, eyes glinting with pure, uncontained rage, 'Don't try that on me Astra! I know why he did it.'

'No you don't-'

'Oh please Astra, he did it because he's a contemptible, low-life scum! He killed Ike because he doesn't value life, because he thinks everyone is below him and that he was worth more than-'

'Please Lyra! Just help me move him to somewhere sheltered. I don't mean for him to join us, I know that you wouldn't accept that. But, whether you accept it or not, we both owe him too much to just leave him here. Like it or not, if he hadn't done what he did on top of that mountain, we'd be dead right now!'

Lyra looked down at Astra, then over down at the unconscious Orion, who hadn't moved a muscle, 'If he wakes up between now and wherever we take him, I kill him, do you understand? I'll kill him, no matter what you say or do.'

Astra paused for a long moment before she nodded silently, before moving to attempt to figure out a way to carry Orion to the nearest shelter, but she needn't have bothered. Lyra stepped forward and, seizing one of Orion's ankles, began dragging him along the snow behind her, towards the tree line.

'Lyra, you're going to hurt him!' Astra protested, standing up and moving to follow her.

'You said that I had to help you get him somewhere sheltered. You never said that I had to pleasant when I was doing that,' Lyra said, an eerie calm have settled over her, in replacement of the uncontrollable rage, 'Do you want me to stop helping?'

'No…'

'Then shut up already.'

...

'I am going to kill that little squeeb!'

Those were the first words heard as Kali wrenched herself up through the blanket of snow that had covered her before she wrenched a wailing Shimmer out by her hair, 'It wasn't what it looked like,' the blonde girl insisted, 'Orion would never betray me.'

'Don't you get it you pathetic mutt?! He's been against all of us from the beginning!' Kali snapped forcefully.

'No he has not, he-' Shimmer insisted stubbornly.

'You didn't see how much that useless mongrel was crying up there, he was blubbering like a fool! He's been working with that little maggot from ten and her pet psychopath the whole time! The only reason he hasn't joined them by now is he slipped up and killed the psyche-ward's partner! He's been helping them the entire time!'

'...There's more to this,' Shimmer said relenting slightly but still looking stubborn, 'Maybe he's been helping them but its got to be part of some bigger plan-'

'Oh please Shimmer, I could have told you that he's been in love with the sugarplum fairy from day one,' drawled a voice, and Shimmer turned around with rage in her eyes to stare at Lilith who was lounging back on the snow a few meters away from them, examining a tear in a blanket that she'd been wearing like a cape till the avalanche hit.

'He is not!' Shimmer yelled furiously.

'Oh please, haven't you noticed how he only kissed you the moment she was in danger, the sap probably couldn't think of anything else that would distract you and that worked pretty damn well,' Lilith smirked.

Kali glared at Lilith, she wasn't too happy at all about this. Not only did it show that Lilith had known exactly what Orion was up to the whole time, but it seemed like it amused her rather than angered her. But that was when Kali realised with a thud.

'Where the hell is Seir?' she hissed.

'Maybe the avalanche killed him, I mean running with that bad knee, anything could have happened,' Lilith sighed boredly, 'Really, the gamemakers aren't so careless that no one would die from the avalanche.'

'Don't you dare-'

'Kali,' sighed an impatient voice.

That was when Seir reappeared from the tree line to the side, still limping, but seeming less so. An incredibly smug look was spread across his face, and despite the fact that his wound had clearly reopened during the avalanche, he didn't seem particularly concerned about that.

Kali sighed in a cross between relief and exasperation on seeing him, 'Where have you been?'

'I got swept further west then you, but I woke up to a little gift, the brats from seven and ten are alive, but they had someone with them. A rather unconscious looking Orion, I know where they are. Guess we are going to get to kill them anyway.'

...

The air was knocked straight out of his stomach, as he skidded along the ground. He felt the wig and hat he'd stolen fall straight off his head, as he collided with the polished wood floors of the victor's lounge. There was a series of gasps through the rooms from those who recognised him, but confused noises from those who didn't. But either way he knew this wasn't good, this was not going according to plan, not that he'd had much of one, but this certainly wasn't it.

Finnick stared for a long moment at the person he'd thrown to the ground. He couldn't help but feel bad when he'd realised who it had been. He knew now that he'd been far from helpful, but he'd just figured it was all some sort of massive joke until now.

It Xandra was the first to make a move as she walked to the side of the boy crumpled on the ground, hissing out, 'Toby! What were you thinking? What are you doing here?... _How_ are you here?'

'Uh… well…' he said awkwardly, going bright red as everyone looked at him, as he started to realise how stupid this was, and how it was near to definite that he was going to get killed for this.

'He came with me,' interrupted a voice.

Toby turned around, only half sitting up to see much to his own surprise, Johanna Mason was leaning against the door frame. Standing between the guards, looking amused, her dark spiky hair making her look that much more troublesome, the glint of mischief in her eyes hadn't even been crushed by her time in the 71st Hunger Games. He'd known her in school, she'd been in his grade, frankly he hadn't been surprised when she had won. Even when she was barely sixteen she'd been both smart and deadly. And now she was his saviour and as well as the person who could betray him in one move. It was typical Johanna to say the least.

'He begged me, hopeless kid, can't live without that girl.'

'Johanna? I thought you swore you'd never come back to the Capitol,' Xandra said in surprise.

'That's before things started getting interesting,' Johanna said in a tone that suggested she was still very much bored, 'Besides who can say no to that face.'

She gestured to Toby's still confused as hell look before shooting a look saying "go along with it" and he realised she had a good idea. If they found out how he really got here, he'd almost definitely be executed, if he pretended that he'd come with someone who was allowed to be here… Well it was better than being killed.

'Johanna, how could you bring him here? He-'

'I'm sorry, I had to come,' Toby said before Xandra could go too far, 'I just couldn't stand it, knowing that she's in there, and I'm on the other side of the country. She thinks I hate her and that couldn't be further from the truth and-'

'Everyone knows you love her except for her,' Finnick smirked, 'She thinks it's some elaborate joke, and everyone's out to get her.'

Toby looked slightly hurt, 'But I do, I honestly do and-'

But that was when Xandra interrupted him, 'Come on kid, you can stay here with us. Just remember, when everyone finds out you're here, you're going to have a lot of explaining to do.'

'I figured,' Toby muttered, but allowed himself to be gently coaxed along by Xandra,

Johanna was following, still laughing to herself, 'I was right, this is going to be an interesting year.'

Xandra turned slightly before giving a tired smile to her fellow victor, 'Yes. And it's only half over.'

...

Astra followed Lyra wordlessly, arms wrapped around herself, as Lyra continued to march on into the trees. Still dragging Orion behind her, until suddenly Astra stopped her.

'Here looks okay,' she said quietly, pointing to a small outcropping of icy rocks which could have been classified as a cave.

Lyra examined the rocks for a second, before striding straight towards them, and practically throwing Orion down into the entrance.

'I'm assuming this is where you say you want to make sure that he's not going to die. Right.' she looked at Astra, not questioning, but stating.

'I brought his bag, we can use his own supplies,' Astra said, looking nervous, as if Lyra might snap at the idea of helping the person she deemed a cold-hearted monster.

'That's all we use,' Lyra said bluntly, 'I'll see if I can start a fire, seeing as you're hopeless at them.'

Lyra turned on her heel and walked briskly from the cave, into the woods around them, while Astra pulled Orion a little further into the cave. Fashioning a makeshift pillow from one of her own blankets, she pushed it under his head, before rummaging through his pack to see what she could find that would be helpful in the current situation. After she had wrapped him in several of his own blankets, she took on of his icy hands in hers and tried to massage some heat back into his fingers, the same way her mother did in the middle of winter for her. As she did, she one handedly went through the rest of his stuff, to see what else she could find, which wasn't an awful lot. She assumed it was because the careers shared the load, each of the took something for the group and they shared their supplies amongst them. There was a little in the way of food, a half empty water canteen, a few bottles of iodide, a small knife which wouldn't have been much use for anything really and not much else now that she had removed all the blankets from it. Except for his katana lay in their sheaths a few feet away from him

She looked up when Lyra came back in, carrying a bundle of wood, which she threw on the floor. She heard the eerie sound of her singing, what sounded almost like a nursery rhyme, but when she listened a little closer, she heard that a few of the words had been changed, only showing further signs of her descent into insanity;

'Rock-a-bye psycho in the ice cave, wake up right now, try me, be brave. Open your eyes and I'll gouge them out, and bye-bye goes psycho without a doubt,' Lyra seemed very content with this song, singing it under her breath, a small smile hinting her lips, an unpleasant glint in her eyes.

'He doesn't have a first aid kit,' Astra said, to try to get her to stop singing.

'Is that my problem?'

'How do we treat his injuries?'

'We don't,' she said still sounding perfectly content; that was the only reply she got before Lyra went back to singing as she lit the fire quickly and precisely.

'He's not warming up,' Astra said, more to herself than Lyra, but Lyra still heard, and came over anyway.

She rested her fingers against Orion's freezing cheek and let out a small sigh like a child who had to hand over one of her sweets, 'If we leave him like this he'll die from Hypothermia, and seeing as I want to kill him myself, that's not a good thing... Astra, pass me my pack.'

Astra frowned in confusion, but complied, scooting over to pick up Lyra's bag and toss it towards her. Lyra quickly opened it and pulled out a small flask, not much bigger than a medicine bottle and pulled off the cap.

'What's that?' Astra asked curiously.

'Something that Xandra sent me a while back. I don't know what it is, but it warms you up somehow. I call it fire whisky.'

'I don't get it.'

'It's some kind of Capitol medicine that brings up your core temperature sweetie,' Lyra explained again.

'Oh…I sort of get that…'

'Yeah, well whether you get it or not, support his head, or I don't give him any,' Lyra said shortly.

Astra nodded, then gently supported Orion's head with her arms as Lyra carefully tipped the bottle, and allowed only the smallest of mouthfuls to pass his lips. Orion was too deeply unconscious to actually swallow by himself, so Astra had to lightly massage his throat for a few seconds, but eventually he swallowed.

Lyra pushed the bottle back into her bag, 'That's all we can do honey-bunch, come on, let's go.'

'All _we_ can do or all _you_ want to do?' Astra queried, as she went back to massaging his cold fingers, although she had to notice that there was the tiniest hint more warmth in them than there had been previously.

'Both. Now come on. The careers might have seen the smoke by now and they'll be coming to investigate. We have to be long gone by the time that they get here,' Lyra now said this with a sense of urgency, seeming to slip out of her deranged child-like persona once again to something more like herself.

Astra nodded regretfully, and went to stand, before she stopped suddenly and quickly scooping up Orion's small knife, she began scratching away at the rock, 'Sweetie, now!' Lyra snapped, not entirely sure what she was doing.

'Just one second Lyra, please. It won't take long,' Astra didn't look up from what she was doing.

'Well just... hurry,' she hissed, her voice crackling with authority.

Astra did just that, quickly and deftly scratching a small string of words into the rock, so they would be the first thing Orion saw when he woke up.

_Now we're even – A_

...

In the collapsed snow that surrounded the mountain, the one tribute they'd forgotten was still there, buried beneath the ice. Having seen the impending run in between their friends and the career pack, they'd attempted to climb up to the mountain top to warn them. But to no avail, they'd been too late. Now their life was slowly fading away, buried in the avalanche, they'd managed to claw their way to the top from where they'd been drowning and freezing alone.

The poor child was only able to pull half their frame out of the ice, she was too exhausted, too far gone to possibly keep fighting. The slight girl from District Eleven had always been a fighter, but by now, she was done. She just couldn't bare to keep fighting such a hopeless cause. She'd made it this far, and by miracles each and every time, but now it was done. She was done.

As Ursula made a vague attempt to pull her legs out of the colossal heap of snow, she flopped against it, unable to keep going. She could feel next to nothing as she was completely numb now. Numb to both the world and all feeling. Her dark skin was tinged blue as the hypothermia continued to spread through her entire body. Her bright brown eyes were slowly beginning to close as frozen tears leaked out of her eyes, rolling off her face and thudding into the ground like miniature hail pieces.

She sucked in glacial air for what she knew could easily be the last time, flinching at the thought, her brilliant brain turning slowly lucid as the frost slowly covered not just her but her mind. And that was when she heaved one last sigh, closing her eyes softly, as the world of white turned into darkness, and nothingness, and she succumbed to the sleep that her body was so desperate for.

_Was it just me or was that a very eventful chapter?_

**Oh yeah, well fortunately for Orion, he's alive for now, but who know's how long that's going to last? Injured, hyperthermic and murderous careers ready to kill him!**

_The clock may be ticking for him readers, but remember, you hold the power to maybe extend the timer._

**Keep on reviewing and we'll be more encouraged to play things in your favour.**

_Indeed we will. What do you think the review count should be this time Selina?_

**Seeing as it took us so long to update, I'm comfortable with saying that I'll be more than happy if we hit 225 reviews, mind you this is overall, not in one go, it's less than 20 reviews to get us there, well readers, think you can do it?**

_Yes, I agree, that sounds like a good number to me. You guys can do that right? We believe in you._

**Come on guys, hit that review button! We love you so much, and we love to know what you think of us!**

**~Selina**

_Review our dear readers. Remember, Mutant and Proud._

_Ally :)_


	30. Bitter Acceptance

**Chapter 30: Bitter Acceptance**

'There, what did I tell you Kali?'

'You were actually right, I'm impressed.'

'You doubted me?'

'Of course not Seir, how could I ever doubt you?'

'Cut the sarcasm. We have to move quickly if we want to kill him.'

'Why? Who cares about how Shimmer will react anymore? Besides, she'll know by now that unless she sticks with us, and stays on our good side, she doesn't have a hope in hell of getting out of here.'

'Who said she had a hope anyway?'

'Good point. Just get out your axe and lop of his head, no delays. It would have been nice to kill him when he was conscious, but we don't have time anymore, and to be honest, I just want to see him die more than anything else.'

This was not the type of conversation that Orion really wanted to wake up to. One moment he had been peacefully unaware of the world, the next he had heard people talking quite close to him, and they had most certainly not been people he wanted to hear.

He had to think quickly, because he had a sneaking suspicion that even if he were to reveal he was awake now, Kali and Seir would just kill him anyway. Beneath the blanket his hand clenched into a fist as he thought, still listening to Seir and Kali.

'Are you sure we can't wake him up?' That was Seir, 'I want to see the life fade from his eyes, and so do you, you said it yourself.'

Kali was quiet for a few seconds, but when she spoke, it could have chilled anyone to the bone, it was that cold, and dripping with such blood lust, 'I don't think we actually need to do anything to rouse him.'

Orion's heart practically stopped as his shoulder was grabbed and he was wrenched up and slammed against the wall of the cave, eyes wide in shock. Kali's lips curved into a terrifying sneer as she crouched in front of him, one hand still gripping his shoulder, pinning him against the wall, the other lightly holding a knife. Seir stood behind her, his axe held loosely by his side, dark eyes radiating the sickest look of sadistic pleasure Orion had seen coming from the District Two boy.

'Hi…' he croaked in shock, still breathing heavily, heart pounding in terror he hoped wasn't showing on his face.

'Hello Orion,' Kali purred menacingly, 'we thought you were swept away by the avalanche. How did you get here?'

Orion stuttered for a second, trying to think, but his brain was just a little too foggy to come up with anything quickly, 'Ah…I ah…managed to drag myself here…'

'Really? And light a fire? And leave a nice little carved message for yourself?' Seir asked, coming forward, still limping, but looking menacing all the same.

'What message?' Orion blinked, only for Seir to point at a small string of carved words on the floor next to where his head had been.

_Now we're even ~A_

Orion stared at the message in horror. Normally he probably would have been happy to see something like that from Astra, it meant she was still alive, and that she was hopefully still okay. But right now, it had just sealed his fate, because Seir and Kali had seen it, and they knew what it meant.

'I can explain?' he offered weakly, only for Seir to suddenly lightly push Kali aside, and seize his throat, lifting him off the ground, pressing him against the damp wall of the cave.

'Don't bother Orion,' Seir just smiled, lifting his axe, adjusting his grip on the handle as he prepared to sink it into Orion's skull, 'we already know all the answers.'

Orion froze in horror, this was it, he was going to die. He had survived everything else this arena had to offer, but now, evidently it was his turn. He wanted to shut his eyes, not particularly wanting to see the axe swing towards him to end his life, but at the same time, the need to simply stare down Seir until the end was there. So he kept his eyes open, glaring at Seir and Kali, gritting his teeth in anticipation for the pain.

It was then that his shoes suddenly seemed to find a grip on the damp wall of the cave. Orion blinked, and suddenly his mind stopped considering his imminent death as a reckless idea crossed his mind briefly.

'It was nice knowing you Orion,' Seir smirked.

'What makes you think I'm going anywhere?'

This caught Seir a little by surprise, which was all Orion needed. Summoning all the strength he could muster, he kicked off the wall, causing Seir to overbalance on his dodgy knee, sending both of them crashing to the ground. Orion didn't hesitate, he followed this through with an almighty punch to Seir's temple, slamming his head back against the hard stone floor with a loud "thwack" successfully knocking him out.

Orion then went to spring to his feet, just in time to hear something swishing through the air towards him. He dodged, enough to stop the blade from sticking into his skull, but not fast enough to prevent it from slicing a thin cut across his cheek. Ignoring it, Orion leapt up, as Kali lunged forward, tackling him from the side. The two went rolling to the ground, with Kali on top, one hand desperately groping for another knife, which she pressed to his throat.

'Any last words?' she spat.

'Yeah,' Orion said, as his hand closed around something on the floor beside him, 'nighty night.'

He slammed the hilt of his katana up into Kali's temple, knocking her out with the one powerful blow. She fell to the floor, knife clattering from her hand, just beside the still unconscious Seir. Orion didn't stop to pat himself on the back. Moving as fast as he could he scooped up his back, the blanket which was lying on the floor and his remaining katana, before turning to run from the cave.

Only to run straight into Lilith, who was just appearing in the entrance. She took one look around her, at Kali and Seir lying unconscious on the floor, at Orion who was still panting from the exertion of the short fight, and adjusted her grip on her spear, ready to plunge it forward into his chest.

Orion moved faster, spinning out of the way, and grabbing the shaft of the spear, literally flipping Lilith onto the stone floor. Once she was down, her hands slipped from the spear handle as Orion wrenched it away, then slammed the butt into her temple, with as much force as he could muster. She dropped, and Orion threw the spear away with a loud clatter, leaping over her prone body and jumping from the entrance of the cave, landing on the slippery snow.

'Orion? What…?' he stopped when he heard someone behind him, sounding shocked.

He turned to face Shimmer, who was standing less than a meter away from him, eyes wide, staring at him in surprise. He swallowed as he thought rapidly. Shimmer, whilst irritating, was not a threat to him, far from it, so he really couldn't justify hurting her. So instead, he just took off at a sprint, ignoring her calling after him, disappearing into the forest.

Orion was running as fast as his slightly dodgy leg could carry him, but he was running out of steam quickly. The adrenaline that had propelled him before, that had no doubt saved his life back there was starting to wear off already. He was losing speed and was forced to start more so limping quickly rather than actually running. But when he felt something touch his shoulder he couldn't help but think it was his doom.

'Orion.'

Shimmer's appearance startled him, and he gaped at her slightly. He couldn't help but think she definitely wasn't here to kill him. Shimmer was an archer for crying out loud, she wouldn't have needed to get this close to him to kill him, and she wasn't stupid enough to try what she had done to Basil to him. He was actually still capable of fighting.

'Shimmer...'

Her bright green eyes stared him down, like she was searching his face for some sort of ulterior motive. That definitely wasn't the look he was used to seeing when she was on the killing path.

She still hadn't said anything so he spoke again, 'What do you want Shimmer?'

'Don't be an idiot Orion, I'm coming with you.'

...

Xandra sat in the apartment building, watching Toby stare intently at the TV. During the last little while when she hadn't had much to do, she'd sat here timing how long it was between blinks for this boy. He may have journeyed all the way from District Seven to try to be closer to the girl he loved but it didn't seem to be making much of a difference. Xandra had very little doubt that this is what he had been doing while he was at home, staring wordlessly at the screen like if doing so would make Lyra know he was there.

'How long has he been sitting there?' Johanna asked.

Xandra jumped slightly to see the younger woman standing there, 'I thought you were down in the Champion's Lounge.'

'I was, but Joel sent me up here to okay a package to be sent to the girls,' Johanna said, 'How's our little stowaway?'

'He's barely looked away since I showed him where the TV was, he practically passes out rather than going to sleep. I've stopped asking him if he wants things, I just put things in front of him and he'll eat from them without even looking up really,' Xandra sighed picking up the piece of paper that Johanna had put on the table.

'Wow, he really does care about her a lot,' Johanna sighed, like it had to be constantly proved to her to keep her believing it.

'More than she'll ever realised,' Xandra shrugged, before asking slightly nervously, 'How long do you recon it is until the Capitol realises he's here?'

'I give it another two hours, well they probably know already but they'll still be disputing over what to do with him,' Johanna calculated, 'And it's probably going to be to kill him.'

'Then we're going to have to do something to make sure that doesn't happen,' Xandra sighed before saying to an Avox, 'Will you bring me a phone?'

'What are you up to Xandra?' Johanna asked as the Avox nodded dutifully a left.

'Bringing in the one thing that President Snow will never be able to control no matter how hard he tries,' Xandra replied.

'There's something he can't control? Since when?' Johanna snorted.

'Well a majority of the time he can, but there is nothing more unstoppable than the media on the trail of serious gossip,' Xandra smirked and accepted the phone from the Avox, before slipping into a fake accent, 'Hello? Is this the Capitol Daily? Yes, I'd like you to connect me to your Hunger Hotline, I've got a major scoop.'

'What are you doing?' Johanna hissed.

Xandra put her hand over the speaking end and said, 'Well if the entire Capitol knows he's here it's going to make them change their strategy isn't it? It'll nearly rule out the possibility they'll have him killed-' she explained before slipping back into the thick youthful Capitol accent she'd been faking and saying, 'I was on a tour in the training centre and you'll never guess what I saw! The Victor of Seventy First Hunger Games, Johanna, she's here! She's here in the Capitol! And that's not all! You should see who's she's brought here with her!'

'You had to bring me into this?' Johanna demanded.

Xandra flat out ignored her though, continuing the conversation, 'Toby, the guy whose totally in love with Lyra! It's amazing! He must be here to see her! It's so sweet!'

Never before had Johanna seen a woman as old as Xandra act like a shrill, gossipy teenager. Xandra was on the wrong side of forty for this kind of joke, it was honestly a little bit freaky. Johanna stared wordlessly, gaping slightly at the older woman, who was still gabbing on like a school girl to the woman on the other end of the line.

'You've got to send reporters in, I saw him get in the elevator with Johanna and Xandra, they'll be up in the dorms, you've got to come see him! I've got to know everything!' She blurted, 'Okay, buh-bye!'

Xandra hang up the phone before much to Johanna's surprise she threw device into the fire, 'They're on their way and they can't trace the phone back to me, just this building. There's no way Snow will kill him as long as the media starts pumping the romance angle, Caesar will have a field day with this.'

Johanna hesitated, trying to guess whether or not she had the right to be angry with the crafty old woman before sighing and saying, 'You know what Xandra, you care about these kids a lot more than you'll admit.'

'Well, I've found two that have the capacity to not disappoint me,' she shrugged staring at Toby who was still on the couch, her mind clearly drifting to Lyra, 'I'm not going to let them go too easily.'

Johanna smiled at the elder woman, she was one of the few people that she genuinely liked, 'So, how long do you think it'll be until the media starts barging down our door?'

'I give it fifteen minutes.'

'Should I go down and tell Finnick not to deny it when they get here?' Johanna asked, knowing it was probably the plan.

'Well if anyone can sell this crap to the media it's him,' Xandra snorted.

'When you're so good at selling yourself this will be a snap.'

...

In the icy storm that radiated through the air, a single figure emerged from the cave on the side of the mountain. The lone figure from District Four rose from the mere crevice which had provided a doorway. Her long chestnut hair rippling in the howling gail winds, her powder blue eyes glinted with malice. She moved her frosted hand to her temple, her nimble fingers brushing over the now swelling mark that Orion had given her.

A small growl escaped her chapped and brittle lips, and she gritted her teeth forcefully, hands clasping hard the weapon that had been turned against her. She could feel the chill of the spear pulsing through her system, seeming to turn more and more piercing as the heat of her rage collided with it. She was done, she was done with the career pack, she was done with the alliance, she was done with holding back. She didn't care anymore, not that she really had in the first place, about how the game was played, she was just going to win it. She was going to rid the world of these _pathetic_ weaklings, these pitiful excuses for human beings were worthless, and she was not going to be bothered with their existence any longer.

Her boots crushed the snow crystals that lay as far as the eye could see as she glided away from the cave, but as she did she noticed a strange difference in the ivory landscape. She frowned and moved towards the shape in the distance, and that's when she noticed, half buried under the snow, the brat from District Eleven. She hadn't heard a cannon, that would have woken her up during her bout of unconsciousness, so as she walked to the side of the inferior being, she was sceptical of the state she was in.

Lilith stared in loathing at the figure, and a scornful word of, 'Pathetic,' slipped through her lips.

She knew that Ursula wasn't dead, she was completely comatose, the hyperthermia still not have quite finished her off though. Lilith hated the girl, not that it made overly much sense to anyone else, but she still hated her far much more than she had loathed the other tributes. A scrawny little nobody, a girl who in Lilith's opinion wasn't smarter, prettier, stronger or any more special than anyone else, and yet still, she hated her in particular. Despite Ursula's complete lack of charm, grace or appeal, this little nobody somehow drew so much attention to her that she just couldn't stand it.

The little flee wasn't dead quite yet, but Lilith just couldn't let the shrew take another breath, she didn't deserve to. She brought forth her weapon and in a single swift movement she slammed the spearhead straight through the smaller girls scull. A sick smile spread across her face as the cannon vibrated through the air, sending icicles plummeting to the ground from nearby trees, as she wrenched the weapon clean from her victim. Walking away she let the spearhead drag in the snow, the bloody blade leaving scarlet stains on the grayscale landscape. But Lilith only laughed as she calculated the numbers in her head of what was to come.

'Nine players remaining in this little game, eight victims left standing in my way.'

...

As a cannon rang through the night, Astra stopped sharply in her tracks, her feet already sinking in the snow the second she stopped moving. Lyra turned to look at her, with owl eyes, bright and unblinking as she looked at her ally. They had been walking since they'd left Orion in the cave, and Astra had been far from talking. And Lyra hadn't seen any reason to try to change that.

'Come on, let's keep moving, it's not your boyfriend, we made sure of that.'

Astra nodded weakly and they kept moving, but ten minutes later she couldn't stand it and asked, 'Who do you think it is?'

'It could be anyone really, the careers were all caught up in the avalanche, maybe one of them just took a while to die. Maybe the alliance split and there was a brawl and someone got killed off. It could have been Greg starving to death but I don't think that's likely. It could have been whoever the hell is missing from our count because I really don't remember who the other person is... or it could be... it could be...'

Almost on queue however, the Capitol's anthem starting blasting through the night, it was already time for them to find out who had fallen mere moments before. Though neither of them were prepared for the face in the sky. Lyra stumbled backwards ramming into a tree as she slipped, unable to comprehend the image. Astra just stared, somehow not seeming entirely there as she blinked wordlessly at Ursula's face in the night sky.

'Well, so that's how it goes,' she whispered after a moment.

Lyra looked up, tears staining her face as she stared at her companion, 'What the hell are you talking about?'

'I'm saying it's going to be me next Lyra,' Astra said simply, shrugging like she'd already decided it was.

'What are you talking about? I'm not losing anyone else!' Lyra yelled.

'It's not like you have a choice really Lyra, someone has to die, everyone but one person has to die. It's how it is, it has never gone another way in the seventy three years that they've been playing this ridiculous game. And let's face it Lyra. I'm the weakest player left in these games. Now that Ursula is gone, I'm the only non-fighter left in this nightmare.'

'Astra don't talk like that-'

'We both know that I'm right Lyra, come on, we need to face it eventually. I've only gotten this far through sheer dumb luck and coincidence. If you and Orion hadn't insisted on helping me I would have been down in the bloodbath, no questions asked, I'm gone and that's simply how it was supposed to be,' Astra said, her tone of complete acceptance freaking out Lyra very quickly.

'Don't! Don't talk like that!' Lyra screeched, 'I need you Astra!'

'No you don't, I'm just a burden, you'd be completely safe if you weren't dragging me along with you. The only reason you decided to bring me along is because you needed someone to keep you vaguely sane after Ike died-'

'_Don't_!' Lyra yelled, looking like she was about to have a breakdown.

'Oh come on, I'm useless, everyone knows it!' Astra insisted.

'STOP IT!' Lyra screamed so loudly it actually shut Astra up.

Astra stared at the elder girl for a long second, before saying gently, 'Lyra, you have a chance of winning, I don't. I've always known that, I just know that it's inching closer and closer and I just can't pretend anymore.'

'I _won't_ let you die,' Lyra whispered, before much to Astra's surprise Lyra grabbed her and hugged her tightly.

Lyra didn't even entirely register the self-doubt in Astra's voice as she whispered, 'Sure Lyra, whatever you say.'


	31. Set Up

**Chapter 31: Set Up**

'Ouch!'

'Stay still then.'

'That hurt Shimmer.'

'Well maybe if you didn't move around so much it wouldn't.'

'Do you even know what you're doing?'

'As a matter of fact I do. I actually went to the medical station unlike you.'

'When did you go to the medical station?' Orion asked in confusion as Shimmer used the torn, damp cloth to sponge more blood off his temple.

'When you were off with that little worm from Ten,' Shimmer explained bluntly, 'I decided that given your record of injuring yourself one of us might as well know how to use a first aid kit.'

Orion glared at her, only to wince as Shimmer applied more pressure to his head as she scrubbed the dried blood away from the large gash across his temple. He bit his lip as she reached into the tiny first aid kit that she had open next to her and selected a small spool of prickly thread and a hooked needle.

'Stitches?' he asked and Shimmer nodded.

'Yes. Stay still,' Shimmer ordered.

Orion bit onto the strap of his pack as Shimmer carefully stitched the edges of the cut together, fixing his eyes on the far wall of the small cave they were in. Orion had been all for covering more ground after he had split from the careers, intent on putting as much distance as he could between him and them, but his leg had given out on him after a while and the pain in his head had become a bit too unbearable. Shimmer had located a small cave, hardly big enough for the two of them and had dragged him inside where she was now doing her best to patch him up.

'We should light a fire,' Orion mumbled through where he was biting the strap and Shimmer sighed.

'After I've dealt with your leg. I'll go hunting and you light a fire. But first I need to finish,' she said, tying off the end of the thread, 'stay still Orion!'

'But there was a rock jabbing into my back.'

'Well, tell me when you move, I could have taken your eye out with this,' Shimmer groaned exasperatedly, flourishing the needle in the air.

'If you wave it around like that I don't think me moving will make much difference,' Orion said coolly.

'If you don't stop making those unhelpful remarks I'll be sorely tempted to sew your lips shut,' Shimmer purred, leaning in close to him.

'Would you? Would you really?' he asked sceptically.

Shimmer responded by planting yet another kiss to his mouth, making him roll his eyes in displeasure, 'no, I wouldn't. But please stay still. I don't want this to take too much longer.'

Orion huffed deeply, closing his eyes wearily as Shimmer moved down to look at his leg. He knew that the cut itself wasn't deep, it was just a deep graze more than anything, it was really just bruised and painful to walk on. But, like all injuries sustained in the arena, no matter how severe they were, it was the threat of infection that was most dangerous. Even Orion had to admit that it would be dangerous for him to continue on with his wounds exposed to the elements. The last thing he wanted or needed was for an infection to set in.

He started when he felt something tap against his cheek and his eyes snapped open. Shimmer was crouching in front of him, green eyes glittering in something that he could only describe as concern. He frowned at her, pushing himself slightly more upright against the wall of the cave.

'What is it?' he asked grouchily.

'You nodded off for a while. I've finished with your leg,' she gestured, 'I'm going hunting, we need food. You should light a fire; otherwise we'll freeze to death here.'

Orion nodded, 'right. Don't go too far.'

'I wasn't planning on it Orion. You're in no state to fight anyone off. I won't be gone long.'

Shimmer picked up her bow and quiver and, after pecking him on the lips much to his distaste, darted from the cave. Orion waited until he could no longer hear her foot falls before he moved stiffly, shuffling over to where Shimmer had collected a large pile of fire wood and began arranging it absently.

Despite his constant annoyance with his traveling companion, he did have to admit that it was helpful to not be alone. And, if he was perfectly honest, if Shimmer remained in this helpful mood, then maybe it wouldn't be so hard to get along with her. But that would only happen if she remained like this, and he was honestly doubtful of the likely hood of that happening.

...

'Are you planning on warning him?'

Xandra looked at Johanna, quirking an eyebrow at the younger woman's question, who was staring boredly at Toby, who still sat unmoving on the hadn't moved in hours, and Johanna looked almost concerned, well as concerned as she got. Leaning against the table, strips of her dark hair, highlighted with red and purple flecks hanging in her face, the only sign she was worried coming from the slight furrowing of her brows and the vein popping out on her neck.

'Did you tell Finnick?' Xandra asked quietly.

'Yes, he can't wait for the media to arrive, he seemed to be amused by the whole damn scenario. Are you going to warn Toby?' Johanna asked flatly.

'Typical Finnick, it must be hilarious to him to see someone else being screwed by the media-'

'Stop avoiding the question Xandra, are you going to warn Toby about the reporters coming for him or not?' Johanna hissed.

'Wasn't planning on it particularly. His expression will be that much more priceless when they come barging in here if he doesn't know,' Xandra shrugged effortlessly, 'That way he is innocent from all the plotting involving him, he doesn't need to know that he's an ace in a game of cards missing half the deck.'

Johanna glared at the elder woman, but all the same she knew she probably had a point. Toby's motivations for coming here had to seem pure, not like a big publicity stunt, he was here for Lyra, not a moment in the spotlight. If Toby knew the media was coming, Snow would be able to manipulate the situation somehow, she was sure of that much. Even if she was yet to figure out what went on in that pointy little head of his. And if Snow could manipulate the situation, that would mean that they'd all have their necks on the chopping block along with his fancy little pig banquets.

'Are you sure it'll be priceless? I mean really, with the state he's in he might just tell them to shut up because he's watching TV, for god's sake he hasn't been able to take his eyes off the damned thing since he got here,' Johanna said with a vague attempt at a joke, not that she was too sure if it even was one.

Xandra smirked at the response, unable to stop herself thinking that it was easier to deal with these things with Johanna here. After she'd refused to come to last year's game, Xandra had been fairly convinced that she would be doing what Blight always did and staying out of things completely. But apparently something about Lyra and Toby's situation made Johanna decide to come here. And realising Johanna was still waiting for a response, she hastily stopped reminiscing and spoke up.

'Well if he tells them to piss off it'll make it that much better TV-'

But that was when Xandra stiffened like a jungle cat having scented its pray, and Johanna turned to follow her gaze as she noticed what Xandra had seen. The numbers above the elevator shaft were changing, glowing as it began to move from floor to floor. It may have been a mentor going up to their rooms, but both victors knew that it wasn't what was happening. Their suspicions only proven correct as suddenly the elevator doors opened on their floor and more than a dozen people who'd previously been crammed in the elevator, tumbled out.

The Capitolites from the media rushed out of the elevator, and instantly noticing Johanna, those with cameras took a shot of her, realising the story Xandra had fed them was true. Before they turned around to see Toby sitting on the couch, slowly looking over to him, seeming puzzled as he heard new people enter. Toby's face went from curious to somewhere between stunned and terrified at the same time, as the reporters swarmed towards him, shooting question after question at him, taking picture after picture with blinding flashes.

Toby managed to last a grand total of about ten seconds under their attack before he leapt out of the crowd of Capitolites and bolted for one of the nearby bedrooms, slamming the door shut behind him. Johanna sighed before pulling out a large knife from her jacket causing Xandra to do a double take. But the young woman casually strolled over, making her way through the crowd of cameras, threatening the media away for just long enough to get in the door.

As Johanna got in the door, she looked at Toby who was sitting down against the wall, looking positively horrified, 'How did... how did they...' he stuttered.

'Xandra called them in, she knew that the best way to stop Snow from executing you for turning up here was to get the media in on it. Even he can't control them half the time,' Johanna sighed, stashing the knife she'd been carrying back into her jacket casually, knowing it would only scare him more.

'This is why you avoid the Capitol like a plague isn't it?' Toby groaned, massaging his temples.

'That and the fact they want to use my body as a bargaining tool,' Johanna said bluntly, 'That's another thing you have a chance to save the supposed "love of your life" from. It's time to man up and face the cameras.'

Toby looked her in the eye for the first time since she'd dragged him out of the Victor's Lounge, 'They're trying to to what to you?'

'It's not exactly a big secret darling,' Johanna said flatly, 'Now get up, you need to sell your love for Lyra like a beggar trying to earn a scrap of food after two weeks without eating. You've said a hundred times that you love her now it's time to get up and prove it. And if she for a single second cares about you in the same way, show that you deserve it, show that you can earn that affection.'

Johanna's blunt words had clearly affected Toby as he silently got to his feet, his jaw tightening, his eyes glinting with determination, his joints steeling like he was waiting for a sudden impact to come and knock him off his feet. Without a word he opened the door, standing there, stock-still, quietly waiting as picture after picture was taken, as question after question was shot at him. There were more reporters and cameramen in the room now, having come up the moment the elevator came down, with at least forty reporters crowded around him. But suddenly the Capitolites chatter died down as they realised he was waiting for them to give him a chance to say something.

He wet his lips slightly, clearing his throat to try to remain calm, desperate to remain as in control of the situation as he could, before he said in the simplest phrasing he could, 'My name is Toby Brown from District Seven, but I know you all know that. I also know that the reason you're here is because you've all heard me say that I'm in love with Lyrana Franklin. I've lied about a lot in the past, but truer words have never been spoken then when I say that I love that girl. Crazy as she is. Crazy as that sounds... I'm here to do whatever I can to help her, whatever I can to get her out of the arena safe and sound. And I know you must have a thousand questions for me but I only have one for you, can you help me? Can you help me save her?'

As the media submerged on him once more, Toby stood motionlessly, taking deep breaths, answering as many questions as he could without making his head explode. Johanna snuck around the crowd of reporters and moved back to Xandra's side before saying, unable to help herself:

'The kids good.'

Xandra gave a weak smile to her fellow victor, but the grimness behind it was unmistakable, 'Yeah, he is, let's just hope that's enough to save Lyra. Because that kid isn't going to last long at all if she doesn't come out of the arena. He might not last long even if she does get out.'

...

Astra prodded at the fire with a short stick, ignoring the heat from the still glowing embers on her hand. If anything, the warmth was welcome, she couldn't remember the last time that she had actually been warm in these games. Even the blanket wrapped around her body couldn't keep out the constant chill.

Through the heat haze rising from the dying fire Lyra was sitting motionless, staring into the embers, hands folded in her lap. Neither of them had spoken a word to the other for what seemed like hours, and any conversation that they had managed during the day had been short and sharp, with as little words exchanged as possible. Their alliance was breaking, Astra could feel it, slowly and subtly, but it was definitely giving way. Lyra was now becoming to enthralled in her own mind, her internal battle against the guilt about what she had done in here, the person who's life she had ended and the others who she had tried to kill was slowly taking control. At least, that was what Astra assumed was going on, she wasn't exactly a world class psychologist. What she did know for certain was that their alliance wasn't going to last much longer.

Astra sighed quietly, glancing over at Lyra, who showed no sign of having heard her. She knew that she had nothing to offer Lyra, her fighting skills were none existent, she was clumsy, she was noisy, she had no sense of when the right time to be serious was. Lyra was the one in their alliance who was carrying most of the weight, she was the one who could fight and hunt, who could cover their tracks and find good places for them to take shelter from the elements. Astra could do none of that. She had only survived as far as she had because of mere chance, and the people who were helping her. Orion and Lyra, they were the reason she was alive.

She looked down at the bracelet which was half covered by the sleeve of her jumper, and carefully opened one of the charms. Inside was a picture of Carter, who was beaming at the camera in his usual manner. She quickly closed it, unable to bear looking at the faces of the people whom she would never see again. She had promised them that she would try to get out, that she would do everything she could to come home to her family. But what was that promise now? It was simply words, and in this place, words meant almost nothing. She would still try, she would still fight, she didn't her family to see that she had given up. But at the same time, her heart just wasn't in it, she had already accepted that she wasn't going to be getting out of this arena. Orion and Lyra could help her all they liked, but when it came down to it, this was all about the survival of the fittest, and now, she was officially the weakest player in these games.

...

The fire burned gently in the small pit that they'd dug out of the snow, both of them sitting so close to it that they blocked out most of the snow wafting into the air. Yet despite how close they were sitting to the same thing, both Lyra and Astra seemed to be sitting as far away from each other as they could manage without leaving the warmth of the burning flames. Lyra stared at Astra, whose blonde head was buried in her knees, firmly fixated with pulling at a stray thread on one of the blankets she was wrapped in. The tribute from district ten hadn't noticed how Lyra was staring at her for the last half hour, large, sapphire eyes haunted as she analysed Astra, her mind whirring as she began to consider something she'd been hoping she wouldn't have to. Just how much was she getting out of this alliance with Astra?

Astra's speech yesterday had shaken her to the core, but Lyra was haunted by the idea that she might just have a point. Astra could even admit herself that the only reason she was surviving was because Orion and herself were helping her. Who was Lyra to deny the truth in those words? Astra was the weakest player in the games. She was the only one who hadn't shown any ability to fight, or the will to kill, Astra had taken a life, she'd confided that in Lyra when she eventually opened up to her about killing Botis. But when Astra had done it, it was a mistake, an accident, and it wasn't against anyone who had the capability to kill her. Cole had been an accident for Astra, but everyone else in this game... They'd meant to kill the people they'd killed. Even Lyra couldn't deny she knew that when she'd thrown the knife at Botis, it was going to kill him.

But at the same time, Lyra knew that Astra had more of a reason then anyone else in this arena to want to go home, she had a family, she had friends, she had people that cared about her. Lyra knew she didn't. She knew that none of the careers really did. She knew Greg didn't, hell his family completely hated him. Astra was the only one with a reason to go home, yet she was the weakest link in this whole competition. That was what Lyra found so sick about people being trained from birth to fight in these games. In district one if you weren't skilled enough to win the games, then you were perceived as useless and no one really cared if you died. In district two they took children away from their families to be trained to fight, they didn't have any purpose on returning home, but yet they still came here to shed blood of the innocent and the loved. Come home and be hailed a hero, only be loved because you made it through this mess.

Lyra could remember even now Xandra listing off the things she'd want in an alley, comparing her list to what it was like with her and Astra. They needed to be able to take care of themselves, if they don't know how to climb, if they can't walk fast enough, they don't know how to hunt, light a fire or tell if water is safe, then there's no point having them around. You need to need them just as much as they need you, an imbalance of power is deadly if it comes to a straight one on one confrontation. Their motivations for what they do must be similar, you need to agree on who the enemy is, what you need to do to stop them and what you're willing to do to take them out or you'll end up going in nothing but circles with them. And most of all, if you have any doubts about their loyalty to you, get out, don't risk your life for the fear you might offend them by leaving. But if they can't offer you anything, don't get into an alliance with them in the first place. You're wasting your time.

Xandra's words were ringing through her head, was she right? Was she wasting her time with Astra? Was this alliance unhealthy, or even worse, dangerous? Astra could climb, but she often got tired walking quickly, couldn't or more like wouldn't hunt, she couldn't light a fire but she could keep it going if left with it, and hadn't even realised that the snow would be the cleanest water source they had to. Lyra wasn't sure if they needed each other in the right balance, sure Astra needed Lyra to keep her alive, and Lyra felt like she needed her to keep her sane, but Astra thought she had another option for someone to protect her, an option that made Lyra want to scalp her for being so foolish. They couldn't agree on who the enemy was when it came to Orion, even if he'd killed both of their district partners at the very least, Astra still couldn't believe that he was trying to hurt either of them. And as for Astra's loyalty... if she didn't have any doubts about it, she wouldn't have been having this internal debate, that was the simple truth. Astra offered her something that Lyra felt like she needed, and that was hope, but she knew that wasn't what Xandra had meant. Xandra had meant if they couldn't fight, or set a trap, or do something you couldn't do but needed done. Making her feel better about the situation she was trapped in was not on her mentor's list of valid reasons for allying herself with someone like Astra.

What if Astra turned on her? What if Astra decided that Lyra wasn't worth anything to her anymore, stole her gear and left her to freeze to death? What if Astra decided that she was going to get out of here and the best way was to ally herself with Orion, and to do that she turned Lyra over to him as a sacrifice? If anyone else had heard the thoughts raging through Lyra's head, they would have laughed, they would have told her she was insane for thinking Astra was capable of doing something that horrendous, that Astra was capable of betraying her. But the problem was just that, even if Astra's presence had allowed her to hold onto whatever sanity she had left after Ike died, she had remained unhinged. She wasn't thinking like she would have before, she wasn't processing signals and signs like a normal person would. Body language, tone, phrasing, these were the things she'd so often used to judge where she stood with people, but whatever had allowed her to process those things was completely disrupted. She didn't know where she stood with anyone any more.

* * *

><p><em><strong>...Hi everybody! We're back! We've been skipping authors notes for a bit because they take so bloody long to write as in it takes an hour and that's just we're in the same room, imagine how hard it is over PM. We know that it's been you know... forever since we updated... but just remember you're dealing with two teenage girls who get distracted a lot, plus in a week we're going to be in Year 12, that's dramatic!<strong>_

_I've had four day hikes, exams, flute, swimming, studying, transformers fanfiction, original stories and a little brother to be distracted by!... And Lord of the Rings Symphony it was amazing by the way!_

**And I've had exams, Tas Display, Year 11 Night, Musicale, Dance Night, Multicultural Day, Basketball, Work... I'm part of the entertainment crew at school, I get a lot of shit to do!**

_Language!_

**Don't care.**

**_Anyway, we'd love to thank our reviewers, who we hope stick with us despite our hugely long absence. TigerLynx, Lucasvbd98, Guests 1-6, Hungergamezluver, ciaraaawrrr, LyzeeAnne, Orion Ehra. Oh and Guest (29/7) who told everyone to stop bugging us to update, thank you, you are awesome, you know who you are, please accept this praise._**

**_Oh yeah and to Potato and Triangle who have joined us over on Zero Hour, (hint hint to everybody else to go check out our original story on fictionpress, we should go into advertising, we're so subtle) we're going to enjoy this debate, but what kind of topic are you after? Related to the stories? Or just completely and utterly random? 'Cause we can to both. We're random people._**

**_So thank you everyone for sticking with us, and as a special reward we have a surprise for you, the next chapter is already completed. Faster you review, faster we post it, so click that little box down the bottom and get ready to see some more awesomeness next time!_**

**__~Selina**

_:) Ally_


	32. Razor Kiss

**Chapter 32: Razor Kiss**

Orion forced himself further ahead, stick constantly digging into the snow as he tried to stay as far ahead of Shimmer as possible, who was dragging her feet and complaining constantly. He gritted his teeth, trying not to snap at her, she wasn't making it easy for him to deal with her at all. He should never have agreed to work with her. The amount of times she'd tried to kiss him in the the past eighteen hours was ridiculous, and now that the other careers weren't around he had no problem with pushing her off him. She was pretty annoyed at him for that, she still didn't get the point though.

'Orion can we stop now?!' Shimmer whined loudly.

Orion turned around, confusion furrowing his eyebrows, 'I'm walking on a dodgy leg yet _you're_ the one who's tired?'

'Well we've been walking for ages,' she pleaded, fluttering her eyelids at him.

'Try four hours, it's not that long,' he insisted.

She was pouting at him, which made part of his brain want to explode, how did she possibly think looking like a duck was going to make him agree with her? She strutted over, pulling at his arm, trying to force him to sit down.

'Come on, this can't be good for your leg-'

'Damn my leg! I don't care! Let's just keep moving, we are royally screwed if Kali and Seir find us!'

'They're not _going _to find us,' Shimmer groaned.

'Oh please with the tracks you've been making even someone as unobservant as Seir could follow them! And remember, Lilith is still out there and she knows how to track.'

'So what do you suggest we do?' Shimmer asked sarcastically, 'Swing through the trees like we live in the jungle?'

'Well if you'd prefer it to walking, maybe it would shut you up for a while,' he hissed through his teeth, having reached his threshold of how much Shimmer he could handle.

'Excuse me?' she demanded.

'I have no problem with climbing, you on the other hand-'

'I can climb!'

'Well that's yet to be seen,' Orion snorted, 'Go ahead, demonstrate, be my guest.'

Shimmer was glaring ferociously at him snapping, 'I shouldn't have to prove anything to you!'

'Are you sure about that? Because from the way you act you seem to have nothing to gain and everything to prove!'

'...What did you just say to me?' she hissed.

'You heard me, now please, demonstrate, the floor is yours,' he replied gesturing to a nearby tree.

'What do you mean by I have something to prove!?'

Orion was slightly startled by Shimmer's incredible outburst of anger, turning back to face her, knowing it was far from wise the moment he said, 'Oh please, you only competed in these games to one up your sister and make your parents love you, because they clearly don't if you're here.'

Shimmer shoved him forcefully, and with his weakened leg, he almost tumbled to the ground, her eyes were flashing with anger, 'Says you! What do you really know about me huh Orion?'

Orion knew he was only making things worse but his brain seemed to have lost control of his mouth, 'I know you're a spoilt brat who doesn't have the faintest idea what she's really gotten herself into here. Sure you can fight, but you can't survive and I know you won't.'

'Excuse me!?-'

'Oh please, you just showed how much of an idiot you were the moment you didn't realise just what I was up to! Forgetting about Astra over a kiss? And still thinking I had feelings for _you_ after I fell out of the tree for her? God you are a fool.'

'Did you honestly just say what I think you said?!' Shimmer demanded, and when Orion gave her the most patronising look on the planet, she practically screamed, 'I thought all this time there was something between us and you were faking it! Because of the brat from ten?!'

'Hm?' he asked, slightly confused because he could barely remember what he'd said up to this point, but Shimmer clearly took it as him taking her for an idiot.

'You've been in love with that _bitch _this entire time! Haven't you!?'

'Don't call her a bitch!' Orion snapped, then realised what he'd just done, that was not the part of the sentence he was supposed to have reacted to.

'Oh that is just perfect isn't it!? I am calling this alliance off!'

'Well thank god! You see what I've been trying to do for the last ten minutes!' Orion snapped even though he hadn't necessarily been trying to that.

Shimmer stormed away angrily, slashing a tree branch with her knife, doing these weird growling screams of annoyance that had Orion completely confused. So his alliance with Shimmer had lasted less than a day. He'd all but admitted his feelings for Astra on national TV. And Shimmer hadn't gone to try to kill him after the alliance was over...

'Girls are confusing...' but then realising what everyone was thinking he looked up at where he guessed there was a camera and shouted, 'Don't judge me!'

He didn't even know why he had bothered.

...

Lyra and Astra sat in complete silence like they seemed to have had for hours. Both were unwilling to talk, seeming to know how tense it had been between them since the avalanche. Lyra didn't trust anyone anymore. Astra seemed to trust just about everybody. That combination didn't seem to add up to a very stable partnership at all, especially when both knew that the other was pondering the exact same thing.

'So... what do we do now?' Astra attempted, hating the silence between them.

'We stay alive, that's all we can do,' Lyra said emotionlessly.

'Can we have food?' Astra asked after a moment.

Lyra nodded restlessly and pulled out a tin of soup that she'd received from Xandra that morning, 'We need to make a bigger fire... can you go get some more firewood Astra?'

Astra nodded, getting to her feet, 'Sure.'

'Take a knife, just in case,' Lyra warned, holding one out to her by the hilt.

'...Okay.'

'And if you hear anything or if you see anyone-'

'Get out of there as soon as possible and find you. I know Lyra. You tell me the same thing every time I go two meters from you,' Astra reminded, trying to inject some humour, but Lyra didn't seem to notice, just nodding slightly, going back to examining at a small cut on her hand.

Astra bit her lip, knowing that she should probably say something to Lyra, but she just couldn't, she didn't know what to say anymore. She moved away from their camp, starting to look for wood, leaving Lyra there, staring into the distance. Lyra sat there, in dead silence, only the slight crackling of the meagre fire they had built for warmth made a slight sound. The miserable girl seemed to be in a world of her own, not paying attention to anything in particular. She was lost in the trance like state she'd been in since Ike had died, unfortunately that made her a more than easy target for someone.

Lyra didn't seem to hear or see Shimmer as she emerged from the trees behind her, having followed the smell of the smoke to her prey. Her bow was in her hands, an arrow knocked to the string, ready to take revenge on one of the people, who in her twisted mind, had taken everything from her.

...

'Here firewood, firewood, firewood. Come out, come out where ever you are. And please don't be wet this time, it makes life really hard,' Astra sang as she rummaged through the snowy underbrush, 'ooh, there's one...damn it, still attached to the tree.'

She took hold of the stick and pulled, as if hoping it would come popping off, only for her hands to slip and for her to go toppling backwards onto the ground. She stood, brushing off her trousers.

'Alright you mean stick, prepare to meet your doom!' she pulled out the knife that Lyra had given her and charged forward with a high pitched battle cry.

'Wow Astra, you get more and more intimidating by the minute.'

Astra's ferocious battle cry turned to a startled squawk as she whipping around, knife still raised, only to freeze when she saw Orion standing behind her, hands raised in surrender. She blinked and tilted her head in confusion.

'What are you doing here?' she asked.

'Well I could hear your vicious battle with the tree from about half a kilometre away, so I figured I should warn you that talking to yourself is generally a bad habit,' Orion smiled at her, pushing the tip of the knife down, 'what? No hug?'

He needn't have asked, because he had just finished his sentence when Astra leapt forward, slamming into his stomach with a vicious hug, 'thank god I didn't kill you.'

'I'm sorry to say Astra, but your hugs aren't that strong,' Orion laughed, 'unless you ask Cole of course.'

'Oh shut up!' Astra grumbled, still hugging him, 'you know as well as I do that that was a complete accident.'

'I know. I was just teasing.'

'Yeah, teasing about death is so funny,' Astra glared at him.

'What can I say? These games do something to your mind,' Orion tapped the side of his head, 'what do you mean by "thank god I didn't kill you" anyway?'

Astra looked up at him with a guilty smile, 'well, I realised about ten minutes after I left the cave that leaving my name was a bad idea.'

'You didn't leave you name, you left the letter A. Unfortunately, you're the only person in these games whose name starts with the letter A.'

Astra giggled nervously, 'oops. Did I get you in trouble?'

Orion shrugged, 'if you mean by trouble Seir, Kali and Lilith tried to kill me then sure. If you don't mind me saying.'

'Oh, sorry. I really screwed up didn't I?' Astra said guiltily.

'No one died, so you didn't screw up as badly as you could have,' Orion shrugged.

Astra glared at him, 'thanks for the comforting words of wisdom.'

'If you haven't noticed Astra, I'm not to good in the comforting department.'

'Yeah, I noticed,' Astra nodded, 'why am I still hugging you?'

'Don't let go, you're warm,' Orion insisted, surprising himself with how forward that had been, 'have you been near a fire recently?'

Astra nodded, confused, 'yes-'

'Yup, definitely don't let go.'

Astra smiled at him, 'okay then. You're cold.'

'What do you expect? It's freezing in here,' Orion pointed out and she laughed.

Astra sobered slightly, looking around the area they were standing in, in sudden confusion, 'where's Shimmer?'

Orion shrugged, not seeming to concerned, 'well we had a bit of a fight and I think that she may have broken up with me.'

Astra only lasted for the grand total of two seconds, before she caved and burst out laughing. It seemed to be infectious, because before long Orion was laughing with her.

...

Shimmer's pale blonde hair was snagging on bushes as she tore through the forest landscape, hacking at things in her way with her knife. She just didn't care how deranged she looked, her hair was a mess, she was positively filthy, the fury in her eyes gave her the look of a hunting dog which was not helped by the snarl spread across her once pretty face.

'I _will _get him for this,' she hissed, growling under her breath, not caring how deranged she would have once found it, 'How dare he fall for that pathetic toddler? She's a whiney little brat, an innocent little moth, a possessive man-stealing bitch!'

Filled with anger she stabbed her knife up to its hilt in a nearby tree trunk, wrenching it free before continuing to hiss under her breath, 'She doesn't deserve him and he sure as hell didn't deserve me. He will die for this. They'll _all_ die for this.'

She hadn't realised how satisfying that would sound aloud, but once it was in her head she was more than ready to execute the idea, 'Orion, the brat from ten and the bitch from seven. That petty little trio will fall for what they dared do to me. Ten for stealing Orion, seven for keeping that little bimbo around for this long and Orion for daring to do that to me. No one ever, _ever_, tells me no. I'm Shimmer Brillo for crying out loud, who would dare... who wouldn't want me!'

That's when she froze, scenting the air like a sniffer dog, her nostrils flaring as she detected the faint smell of smoke in the air. She clung to a nearby tree branch, as she lent forward, back, left and right, trying to locate the source of the smell. She couldn't see it, but the scent was stronger to the west and so moving near animalistic through the trees, now dead silent, she sensed her prey ahead, and soon enough she could hear voices. Growling in enjoyment under her breath, she slunk towards the voices knowing it had to be one of two groups. Seir and Kali, which she would have no problem taking out from a distance. Or a far more enjoyable target, seven and ten.

Just as she was getting closer she was forced to duck behind a tree as the girl from ten exited the clearing, a smirk gathered on Shimmer's features, realising the one she was hunting were there after all. Seven had to be the one she was talking to, a look of contempt crossed her face as she slunk towards the clearing. Ten could wait for now, she would be on guard because she'd just left her little bodyguard behind. Seven was a different matter, she was going to be a more difficult kill, that made it more enjoyable though. And the moment the cannon sounded, ten would come running back to check on her pet beast, and that would be where she would wait for her.

She waited several minutes, making sure that Ten was long gone before she moved forward moving as silently as a ghost through the trees. She came closer and closer to where she could see seven, sitting there, staring in the opposite direction. She pulled out her bow, and selected an arrow carefully, she wanted the perfect little present to puncture the peasant's chest. Drawing back the string, she moved forward three more steps, but as soon as she looked back up she realised something; seven had moved.

'You really should wear lighter boots Shimmer. You don't know just who could hear you trudging around. They might even be a little nuts.'

...

Astra knew that she should go back to camp by this point, leaving Lyra alone was probably far from the best idea. But for the first time in far too long, she felt like she could breath again, now that it was just her and Orion, and the careers weren't going to come round the corner any second. They'd moved to sit down on a nearby log, still with their arms half around each other, almost as if they were afraid that if they let go, the other would melt into nothingness. But these feelings only confused Astra, he was a killer. She knew that, she couldn't deny it. Not only had he killed people, he'd killed good, innocent people who would have never harmed him given the choice. She needed to understand what he did.. why he'd done it, or otherwise the feeling of being safe with him, that she could trust him, it just felt wrong.

'Orion...' she whispered after a long moment of silence.

'Yes?' he asked, seeming unthreatened at this point.

'...I... I don't understand,' she choked out, thinking about Horace and Ike causing her to have to fight back tears.

He instantly turned to look at her, seeming extremely concerned, 'Don't understand what?... Astra, why are you crying? Astra-'

'Ike... Horace... I don't get it! How could you hurt them? How could you do that? I just don't understand, you did everything you could to save me, but what made it any different? Why couldn't you save them Orion? Why did you kill...' she broke off in tears, pulling away from him, removing her arm from his waist, and shying away from the hand he'd been resting on her shoulder.

'Astra I-'

'Why Orion?' she demanded even though she far from wanted to have this conversation.

'Astra, please, I can explain... to a degree... I didn't have a choice. It's just that-'

'It's just that what? How were their lives worth any less than mine?' Astra whispered.

Orion knew he had a lot of explaining to do, trying to grip her hand, desperate for her to listen to him, but she pulled away again, but she was far from running, so he just realised he had to talk over her no matter how much she tried to interrupt, 'when it comes to Horace's death, every moment of that sickens me. He was a kid, an innocent kid who trusted me, who begged me to not do what he knew I had to. But I had my reasoning, and I know it won't be enough for you, it's not enough for me either, but there is a reason.'

Biting her lip Astra slowly looked back to him, calming down enough for now to ask him, 'What's the reason?'

'That wasn't the first time I'd heard about that spider in the arena when I ran into you. I'd found Horace a few hours earlier that day, he'd been bitten by it, and I knew he wasn't going to last more than a few days with that venom in his system,' he began.

'And so that makes it okay does it?' she demanded.

'I know that it doesn't!' he said over the top of her, 'But it wasn't just that, I knew that if I didn't kill him, Seir, Kali, Shimmer, Lilith, they would have killed him, it wouldn't have made a difference, he was too weak to get away. And if I turned on them... I wouldn't have been able to take down all four of them. And then I wouldn't have been around to protect you and Lyra like I need to be-'

'What?' she asked sharply.

'I... Astra, I... I couldn't let you two get hurt, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I did... I don't know what move I would have made if I'd realised just how much Ike's death would have done to Lyra. But if I hadn't done what I did... Lyra would have come tearing into that clearing, ready to fight anyone who dared threaten Ike. He told me... he looked right at me and said unless Lyra heard a cannon, she wouldn't run, I had no choice, either he was going to die, or both of them were. I chose the lesser of two evils.'

'...Why do you need to protect _us_? What makes _us_ better than anyone else? What makes Lyra and I anymore special that Ike or Horace or anyone else in this game? And who gave you the right to make that choice?' she asked him quietly.

Orion shook his head, he didn't have an answer to that. It was the question that haunted him more than anything else. He knew why he was protecting Lyra, he was asked to by someone who couldn't stand to see her die. And he now knew he was protecting Astra because of the same reason Toby wanted to protect Lyra. But what gave him the right to choose whose life was worth more? Nothing did, he just didn't know.

...

'You really should wear lighter boots Shimmer. You don't know just who could hear you trudging around. They might even be a little nuts.'

Lyra's eyes glared at Shimmer, who was standing three meters away from her, bow in hand, arrow knocked at the ready. Tightening her grip on her knife she observed the once regal girl, who now looked like someone had infused her DNA with some sort of hound. She was unhinged now, which put them on an even playing field.

'So where's your partner in crime darling? Waiting in the shadows to launch a surprise attack?' Lyra asked, 'Come out and play Orion.'

'He's not here,' Shimmer replied in a tone so deathly Lyra knew it a, wasn't a lie, and b, Shimmer had convinced herself it was Lyra's fault.

'What did you finally find out that he's been two timing darling?' she asked sardonically, 'Even a bastard like him wouldn't look twice at a shrew like you.'

'Shut up. You think you're better than me don't you? So superior because your boyfriend from the slums loves you ever so much,' Shimmer growled.

'I think I'm better than you because I'm not a stuck-up, self absorbed bitch who needs attention twenty four hours a day from at least half a dozen people to make me feel like I'm worth something,'

'You are wrong, I will make you fall, I don't need help to squash you like the vermin you are-'

'Oh really? Do you really think that Shimmer?' Lyra asked, like everything that was being said had been played out before, and she knew every twist and turn of this conversation, 'I don't think you do Shimmer. For the first time in your life you're unsure of yourself. And I know exactly why, it's written all over your face darling, poor little thing, betrayed by the one who she was ever so in love with.'

'I never loved him! He didn't deserve it-'

'Yes you did. I can see the doubt, the hurt, the hatred pouring through your veins. He finally told you why he kissed you in the first place, for _Astra_, why he stuck around with the career pack, it was for _Astra._ Never for you, he never did anything for you unless it helped _Astra_. He practically looked you in the eye and told you that you weren't good enough, and you know what, you're not.'

'Shut up!' Shimmer yelled, losing complete control of the previously calm demeanour she'd been executing, 'Shut up!'

'Why should I when even you know that I'm right? He was the first one who really didn't care, or at least had the guts to say it. Because let's face it Shimmer, no one ever really cared about you. I knew no one did the moment you got your message from home. Your parents only want the glory, your sister wants to steal that spotlight from you. Hell, she asked that if Orion got out of the games and not you if _she_ could have him. Which only proves she doesn't care at all, if he got out and you didn't chances are he was the one that killed you, and you know what? She didn't care. You have no one who cares about you more than they care about themselves. You have no one Shimmer, no one actually cares, no one ever has, and no one ever will.'

Lyra didn't know where these words were coming from. But every little observation about what had made Shimmer the twisted, self-absorbed person she was, came to the surface as she spoke. Lyra knew only one of them would walk away alive from this confrontation. Neither of them had anything waiting for them when they left the arena, they were on an even playing field. And it came down to who wanted it more. Who wanted to live, and who just didn't want it enough.

Shimmer's entire form was shaking with anger, rage pulsing through her system, but it was Lyra's last line that sent the already enraged girl over the edge, 'No one wants you, no one needs you, it might even be easier for everyone else if you were just to disappear.'

Lyra had hardly finished her sentence however when whatever had been interfering with Shimmer's descent into pure insanity broke, and with a terrible scream that chilled her to the core, the girl from District One loosed the arrow ready to kill.

...

Astra and Orion were still sitting in silence when she realised just how long she had been there for. She glanced over at Orion, who was staring at his hands in silence, obviously not wanting to look at her or anything else for that matter. After he had finished speaking he had lapsed into this silence, refusing to say anymore to try to explain himself, and Astra could only guess that he couldn't anyway. He had said enough though.

She sighed softly, 'I should probably get back. If I'm gone for too much longer Lyra will come looking for me and well, I have no way to sugar coat this, she hates your guts.'

Orion cracked a small, sad smile, looking up at her slightly, but not making eye contact, 'I kind of figured, judging by the several attempts made on my life. She wouldn't be happy if she found you talking to me would she?'

'No,' Astra shook her head, and slowly went to stand, 'what will you do now? You're no longer in an alliance are you?'

'No. Not anymore. I guess I'll just go solo for a while. Although I was sort of hoping to maybe join another soon,' he shrugged, unable to keep the slightly hopeful tone of his voice.

'Orion, I may be able to understand to a point what you did, but Lyra. She will never forgive you for what you did to Ike. I'm sorry,' Astra sounded truly apologetic, looking at him sadly, 'will you be okay on your own?'

Orion nodded, sighing deeply, 'I'll survive, until someone manages to track me down and kill me. I've made way to many enemies in these games.'

'I thought we were all supposed to be enemies from the moment the gong sounded?'

'Well that doesn't explain you and me now does it?' Orion was almost smiling, 'you should go.'

Astra nodded weakly, 'well, hopefully I'll see you again. Take care of yourself Orion.'

She turned to leave when Orion stood hastily and grabbed her hand, 'Astra...'

She looked up at him, obviously perplexed, 'what is it?'

'...Just...thank you...and...don't get yourself killed,' he stumbled out.

Before Astra knew what was going on, he hurriedly leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. She felt the corner of his mouth graze past hers for a fleeting second before he stood and without another word he ran off. She didn't need a mirror to know that she was blushing as she stood there, questioning internally whether or not that had actually just happened.

As she stood there in silence, their was a shill scream of terror followed by the loud boom of the cannon rang through the forest. She jumped, panic seeping into her system, before she sprinted back to her camp.

Had she really just left Lyra alone?

...

As the arrow missed Lyra by mere millimetres, only Shimmer's rage having prevented the shot from hitting, she very quickly realised just how much of a dangerous situation she was in. Shimmer didn't even bother to try shooting her again, they were standing far too close to one another, this was not a place for archery. Shimmer threw her bow sideways, where it splintered against the tree, so blinded by anger that she didn't even notice what she'd just damaged. Knife in hand Shimmer leapt towards Lyra, with a horrible cry of anguish, intent on murdering the girl who'd dared to call her worthless.

Lyra managed to leap out of her way, causing Shimmer to crash into a nearby tree, dropping her knife but the pain only further infuriated her, as she came charging back for her again. She pinned Lyra to the ground by her throat, throttling her as she yelled over and over again, tears streaming down her face:

'You're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong!'

Lyra managed to kick Shimmer in the stomach despite her inability to breathe, rolling away, sending her first knife flying through the air, which unfortunately missed the teen psychopath. Shimmer slammed into her, screaming and punching every inch of her she could reach, done with weapons now, determined to kill her with her bare hands. But Lyra had one last idea, and with a near suicidal move she started to wrestle with the girl, causing them to roll over several times. Though only through sheer luck and timing was it Shimmer who ended up in the embers of the dying fire. Her shrill screams of pain tore through the air, and it was then that Shimmer's fatal mistake of discarding the last of her weapons became all too clear as Lyra's spare knife tore through the air and drove its way into the side of Shimmer's head.

Shimmer didn't have more than a nanosecond to process what had just happened, before she collapsed to the ground and the cannon rang through the air. Lyra stood there, unmoving, just staring at the girl who's life she'd just taken. Her blonde hair now being dotted with blood, her pale skin now marred with the humongous wound that the knife had created. Lyra didn't know what to feel as she processed what she'd just done, she didn't feel regret, she didn't feel sadness, she just felt... empty. She didn't entirely process what she was doing as she wrenched the knife from Shimmer's temple, lightly tossing it into the snow nearby.

She looked at Shimmer's crumpled form, lying a little bit too close to the fire, the maniac look from before having been completely wiped from her features. And not even positive what she was doing she dragged Shimmer backwards slightly, until she wasn't so close to the fire, arranging her body in a less splayed position. She didn't even understand why, but she decided to say something, not that it made any sense to her.

'We're not that different, no one cares about me either,' Lyra said simply, and like she had with Botis, she kissed the centre of the dead girls forehead, a simple sign of respect to her, but something to be concerned about for Astra who had only just made it back to camp.

'Lyra?' she choked out as her ally stood up completely calm.

'We should move her body away from here, otherwise the Capitol won't pick it up.'

'You... you just... Lyra...' Astra choked out before saying, 'Lyra, are you okay? Did she hurt you?'

'No.'

Lyra's response was blunt and to the point making Astra choke slightly, as she managed to say, 'But how are you?... Are you really okay?'

'I'm not anymore screwed up than I was this morning.'

'...I don't know what to say to that at all,' Astra admitted as Lyra snorted slightly before pulling Shimmer further out of the clearing.

But still dragging the blonde's body, she stiffened slightly and before Astra knew what was going on there was the sound of a slight scuffle and someone hit the ground. Running around the trees to find out was going on, Astra's heart just about shattered into a million pieces as she realised what she was seeing. Orion was on the ground, and Lyra was kneeling on his chest, yet another knife pinned at his throat.

'Well look at what we have here! I've been waiting for this to happen One! You're finally going to get what's coming to you.'

* * *

><p><em><strong>Hello readers new and old! For the first time in god knows how long, it has taken us not only less than a month, but less than a week! Claps all around for your authors! And what do you think of this chapter? Is it what you've all been waiting for? Death, destruction, doom and despair, and a little romance. Are you one of those people who've been desperate for us to kill her off since the beginning? Or are you one of those people who gained a soft spot for a spoilt yet resourceful little blondie? Let us know with a fantibuliuptios review! And while you're at it tell us what your favourite made up word is! And what you think is going to happen now that Lyra finally has a none passed out Orion in her clutches! Please, don't spare us the details, Ally enjoys this kind of thing. Speaking of reviews, we shall take this time to thank the reviewers who stuck with us despite our three and a half month absence!<strong>_

_**Orion Ehra: Wow you are so lucky your review wasn't taken down for using that language, you'll want to be way more careful in future. Insanity is awesome, that's the point. And as for why we haven't responded in past, we did mention in the last author's notes how long it takes us to write these things. Thanks for the review, cheerio.**_

_**Ciaraaawrrr: You screamed? Wow you were pumped, and now you get another chapter this quick so we hope you're more hyped than ever. And as for Shimmer... our bad. This confrontation has been planned for a long time, but she can enjoy her character at least for all the drama she brings with her. We all want to hug Astra, she gives amazing hugs! Thanks! See you next time!**_

_**LyzeeAnne: We can understand that view point, let's face it Lyra is slightly psychotic at this point. And as for whether she'll kill Greg? Well she managed to kill Shimmer, and seems like she's about to kill Orion, who knows what murderous rampage she could go on. And as for Toby, things are only going to get harder for him, but you never know twist is to come. Who knows if either of them will win? Things are never certain when it comes to the Hunger Games. Well except for Shimmer, ding dong the bitch is dead. And as for whose still alive, we were planning being all mysterious and secretive, but a very dedicated fan decide to compose a hit-list and post it, look two reviews above you. Thanks as always for such a detailed and observant review!**_

_**Guest: Glad to hear you think so *blush* thanks for the review!**_

_**The Mockingjay Lives: -Found out who lives! Wow, now that is dedication, don't worry, we don't have lives either, or at least social ones. Well, their partnership didn't last long. And Lyra's now got the same kill total that Orion and Seir does, so that's an interesting point. Like Greg's going to move. And as for our little hide-away, don't you think that's the point? Lilith was given a last name we just forgot to mention it, it's Terzo, and Greg... he doesn't need a last name, he's just psycho Greg, from the sewing district. And as for Astra, part of her is in denial and the rest of her knows it was an accident, she enforced a piggyback, Lyra actually stabbed someone... two people now. May they be in your favour, we hope we hear more from you, thanks for reviewing.**_

_**So lovely reviewers, we shall see you next time! And we hope it will be soon, we have started on it already. So see you all next time for the next chapter of The Forbidden Year, may the odds be ever in your favour, and don't forget to tip your authors!**_

_**Read, review, follow and favourite!**_

**~Selina**

_Hey! Don't leave! Will you go penguin sledding with me?! _

_:) Ally_


	33. Fractured Alliances

**Chapter 33: Fractured Alliances **

Orion stared up at Lyra, unable to help the fear pulsing through his system. She looked positively deranged, blood coating her hands, her hair strewn with sticks, arms covered in gravel. Currently she was kneeling on his chest, a snarl on her lips, eyes wide and maniacal as the knife hovered above his throat. He should have known it was a positively horrible idea for him to come back, but he thought he'd finally had a way for her to accept him. And once he'd heard that cannon, there was nothing holding him back. Astra stood not too far away, looking completely torn between the two people in front of her, like she had no idea what to do or who she should be trying to protect.

'Well your time is up now isn't it Orion? You're finally going to get what you deserve, you're not weak or helpless now. You're just lucky you survived this long, lucky that you're always unconscious whenever I find you,' Lyra hissed.

'I thank the shoelace,' Orion said weakly, not entirely sure what he was saying, but he was hoping his brain would come up with the right thing at some point.

'What?'

'Nothing... You were threatening me?' he offered.

'Actually I'm pretty sure I was just about to kill you, you little conniving bastard,' Lyra snarled, making Orion glance over at Astra wondering how this was going to go, but Lyra continued on her nuts tirade, pressing her knife harder against his throat 'Ah ah ah, look at me, not your girlfriend. I'm the one you should be afraid of.'

'Oh I assure you I am... Is there anything I can do to convince you to, you know, not kill me?' he managed to get out, knowing he wasn't doing anything to help himself.

'No. No there's not.'

'...Can you at least make it quick?' he tried, knowing that even if he could get her off him, she'd throw the knife before he got two steps.

'Oh like you deserve that, after what you did to Ike-'

'Ike was quick,' he said then realising just how dumb it was.

He felt the heel of Lyra's hand collide with the side of his face so hard that he was surprised she didn't shatter part of his eye socket, grunting with pain he saw Astra step forward, 'Lyra-'

'What?!' the deranged girl screamed.

Astra looked shocked before rationalising her actions and taking a few steps back, 'Nothing, continue.'

'Thanks,' he muttered before saying, 'Look, before you slaughter me like the pig you've decided I am, can I at least give you something?'

'Like what? A katana to the spine?' she snapped like a rabid dog.

'No!' Orion said hastily, 'Look can I just get it out of my pocket?'

Orion knew he couldn't without her cooperation, he was lying on his hands unfortunately, but Lyra just looked at him like he was taking her for a fool and said, 'Oh really and what's in there? An explosive? A knife? A taser? How dumb do you think I am?'

'None of the above, look if you just let me-'

'Which pocket is it in?' Astra asked, 'Lyra, I can get it out for you, and then you can assess what it is. You know... see if it changes anything.'

'Fine. But if this is part of your little canoodling plot then I will take you both down,' Lyra snarled.

Astra looked unsurprised by this which shocked Orion, he hadn't known how clear it was to Astra that it had been what Lyra was thinking for the last few days, 'It's not. I'm not trying to help him, I'm trying to help you Lyra, you've been protecting me for weeks, why would I cross you now? Which pocket is it in?'

She'd addressed the last part of her speech at Orion who shifted his weight slightly to indicate which one, but as Lyra watched them like a hawk all Astra could find in Orion's pocket was a single piece of paper, 'That's it,' Orion said simply.

Astra frowned even as Lyra still lingered her knife over his throat, 'What is it Astra?'

'A piece of paper... a letter... it's addressed to Orion but it's from... oh... that explains so much...' Astra trailed off, unable to analyse anymore.

'What does it explain?' Lyra hissed, eyes still trained on Orion.

'You should read it... me reading it aloud would kinda ruin it... you've got skill you can pin him and read at the same time,' Astra offered even as Orion shot her a "not helping," look.

In one swift movement Lyra got up her foot ending up on Orion's throat while she still kept her full weight on him, as she snatched the letter from Astra's hands, and instantly her face changed. She scanned the letter, brow furrowing, like she couldn't understand what was written, or didn't want to. An internal war was visibly raging in her head as she absentmindedly stepped off Orion, leaning against the tree still reading the note. Orion sat up, surprised she'd gotten off him, but pretty sure he wasn't off the hook. But noticing the movement Lyra looked up, eyes flashing dangerously despite the tears starting to work their way down her face.

She lashed out, smashing a kick into his stomach sending him back to the ground before she eventually said in such a conflicted voice that Orion could tell every word was killing her, 'You have three seconds. Get out of here. If I see you after that time is up, I will sink knife into you and don't you dare think I won't.'

Orion slowly got to his feet, looking towards Astra, beginning to say, 'I tried-'

'GET OUT OF HERE!' Lyra screamed, and Orion knew that he had no choice and ran away as fast as his injured leg could carry him.

Astra walked to Lyra's side, only to be pushed away but Astra ignored the reaction and said, 'Lyra. He told me once that he was protecting someone when he killed Ike. He was protecting you. Toby begged him to protect you-'

'Shut up! Don't you _dare_ make it _my_ fault! Don't you dare try to justify what he did!' Lyra snapped, turning away violently, still re-reading the letter in her hands.

'...Okay Lyra... whatever you say...'

...

'Oh my god...'

Kali turned to face Seir who was far too busy sitting half on top of the fire to even look up at the sound of the Capitol anthem. She personally was in a little bit of shock. Shimmer. Of all people, Shimmer was the next to go down. She'd been positive it would have been the brat from ten or the random from eight. But Shimmer? Maybe Orion and finally cracked and killed her.

'Seir!' she hissed violently.

'What? Can't you see I'm huddling? Can you get me another blanket-'

'Shimmer is dead,' she said bluntly.

Seir turned around to face his District partner, with a slightly stunned look on his face, '...So Orion finally cracked and killed her?'

'Must have, should have figured she took off after him when he knocked the rest of us out,' Kali sighed, still wandering around aimlessly.

'I am going to kill him for that one-'

'Who says you get to? I want that guy dead just as much as you do, he made a fool out of me and no one gets away with that,' Kali hissed angrily.

Seir looked at her with an expression of grim amusement before offering, 'You can have seven, and take out Lilith.'

'...You're not going to be killing anyone with the way your knee is looking, how has it not healed over? It's been over a week,' Kali snapped looking at his bandaged leg, with a look as close to concerned as she got.

'I don't know, we haven't been able to replace the bandages in a few days, we're out of medical supplies remember? All we've got is what Enobaria sends us, and that isn't much lately.'

'Stop whining. I'm sure she's doing the best she can, it's the idiot Capitolites who aren't cooperating,' she snapped.

'Kali!' Seir barked forcefully, 'You just better freaking hope they don't air that! Now can you pass me a blanket, I'm freezing here!'

'You've got _all_ the blankets we have,' Kali rolled her eyes, before her tone became extremely patronising as she said, 'we could always cuddle if you're that pathetic.'

'Well that's one way to get us sponsors,' Seir fired back, making a face at her.

Kali glared at him before cracking and giving him a weird smile that came out more like a grimace, 'It would almost be an option if you weren't so positively repulsive.'

'And you think I find you any less slimy?'

'Let's face it, we both know you think I'm sexy.'

...

It was silent in the room where Toby sat unmoving, he didn't like it here. The room was empty except for him, he just sat on a table, waiting for whoever was supposed to be coming to get him. They hadn't even given him at TV so he could keep watching the games, it drove him insane not to be watching Lyra every moment possible, it positively killed him to know that something could happen to her and he wouldn't even see it happening. He wasn't sure why it made a difference if he was watching, it just did. That was when he heard a slight knock and he looked up to see someone standing in the doorway. The man was clearly from the Capitol but the editing he'd done to himself was at least somewhat tasteful.

'Toby; my name is Esperanza,' the man said gently, entering unconsciously brushing away a segment of the dramatically gold hair that hung in his dark eyes.

'...You were Lyra's stylist, weren't you?' he questioned hesitantly.

'Yes, I am,' he said making a clear choice on which tense to use, 'And now I'm here to help you.'

'I... I'm being interviewed by Caesar Flickerman tonight, my first _official_ public appearance,' Toby said carefully, 'But I'm not sure exactly what's expected of me.'

'You're expected to be what you are, a desperate boy in love,' Esperanza said, teasing him, but not in an unpleasant way, 'I care for Lyra, and I'm willing to do whatever I can to help you. I know that you're from a more high ranking background than she is, I can only expect that you know a little more about how to act in Capitol society than she does.'

'My father often has me charm Capitolites into investing in whatever project he's trying to sell, so I suppose I do. Though I'm really making it up as I go along mind you... this whole thing has mostly stemmed from improvisation,' Toby admitted.

Esperanza smiled softly, 'Improvised or not, you've made some good calls along the way. And even if you've been around with people of the Capitol in the past, it doesn't matter, this is a whole new circumstance, a whole new set of rules. You've gotten lucky to a degree though, there isn't anything the Capitol likes more than a tragic love story that they feel they might be able to give a happy ending.'

'...So what do you need me to do? How exactly does this whole process work exactly?' Toby questioned, starting to feel nervous.

Esperanza considered it for a moment, beginning to pace around Toby, with an examining stare that made him feel quite vulnerable, 'I'll have to bring my prep team in, have them take a bit of the scruffiness off you... We might leave the hair for me though. There's a Capitol fanbase purely for just that aspect of you, so it requires a little extra care.

Toby touched his messy dark locks rather hesitantly at that, not sure exactly what was Esperanza was talking about. Usually if he had to do anything that involved the Capitol, his mother and father would do anything to get it to stay down, which usually involved axle grease. If the Capitol fawned over his mop then this place had a few more extra rules that he hadn't been aware of.

Esperanza couldn't help but smirk at that before he said, 'Relax, I know what I'm doing, besides, I've been given a lot to work with. I'll be back in an hour or two when the prep team is done,' he began to walk to the door, but he hesitated for the first time since he arrived and turned around to face him, 'Just to clarify, your feelings for Lyra are legitimate, you do truly love her? Correct?'

'...Why does everyone keep asking me if I really do? I wouldn't be here if I didn't love her,' Toby snapped, unable to help the frustration that entered his tone.

'I don't know about everyone else, but I know why I'm asking. I'm asking because I care about that little girl as if she was my own, she has had far too much misfortune in her life to be hurt anymore. She's already losing her grip on her sanity, and if you love her you may be the only one capable of keeping her in the realm of reality. So let me just warn you, if you hurt her-'

'I'd never do that,' Toby insisted, slightly scared by this sudden change in the seemingly harmless man.

'That better be the truth, and not just the truth of today, but tomorrow's and the day after. You have to mean that for the rest of your life,' Esperanza said forcefully beginning to exit the room once more, 'And the thing is, if you don't mean it for that long, I don't even have to do anything to you. I'm pretty sure it'll be the excuse the President needs to get rid of you.'

…

Orion shivered as the freezing wind whistled through the trees around him and wrapped his arms tighter around himself as he continued to hobble through the snow. He would have to find shelter soon, as it got darker the temperature continued to drop and the last thing he wanted was to be out after dark in the sub-freezing temperatures alone.

He sighed miserably as he thought about his failed attempt to join Astra and Lyra in an alliance. He had tried and he really thought that his attempt would work, he had thought that the letter would be the perfect way to at least earn enough of Lyra's trust to let him stay.

_Just as Astra disappeared off into the trees, he'd only had a few moments to feel the pain in his chest at seeing her go before he heard it. A slight beeping that trailed its way through the trees and for the first time since the games had begun he noticed a silver parachute landing in the trees a few feet away. It wasn't that the other careers hadn't gotten them, it had more so been the fact that he'd always known they weren't for him up until this point. Jet would never send him anything, he disliked his mentor for a reason. Though he knew that this one had to be his._

_There wasn't much of a package dangling from this one, in fact, it was just an envelope, with letters pressed on the outside reading:_

_**Go get her champ- Aurora**_

_Frowning to himself he opened the envelope, wondering what it was exactly, until he processed the crumples that came across the entire sheet of paper tucked inside. In the split second before he saw the handwriting he knew exactly what it was. This was his chance to convince Lyra to trust him. This was Toby's note._

He had been so distracted with his thoughts that he didn't notice just how far he had wandered or just how dark it was getting. He was snapped back into reality though when he felt the ground shift a little when he stepped onto it. He looked down at the leaves beneath his foot before shrugging and taking another step just as the whole section caved.

Orion yelped as he tumbled into the hole in the ground in a cascade of leaves and branches. He grunted as he landed heavily on the soft dirt on his back and for a few seconds lay there winded. Eventually he blinked and wiped his eyes free of dirt and slowly sat up to look around the hole he was in. It wasn't overly large, but it was deep. Very deep. If he jumped he could just about graze the top with his fingertips, but the earth around it was so soft that he couldn't get a good enough grip to pull himself out.

A small spark of fear suddenly flickered in his brain as he realised that it was most likely a game maker trap. He looked around at the dirt walls fearfully, waiting for some unspeakable horror to come crawling out of them to eat him alive. Or maybe it was a trap so Mutts, like the spider could come crawling in to get him from outside.

Internally he cursed himself for his stupidity. If he hadn't been so wrapped up in his thoughts then he probably would have noticed in time to stop himself from falling. Instead he had wandered blindly into a trap and was most likely going to die in a few moments because of his sheer stupidity.

He jumped when he heard the heavy sounds of feet on the ground above and on instinct his hands whipped up and drew his katana as he stared up at the rim of the hole, waiting for whatever horror the Game makers had decided to unleash on him. Maybe they would be kind enough to allow him to die quickly.

Instead of a Mutt though, the figure which appeared at the top of the hole was another contestant. For one long, awful second Orion thought that it was Seir, but after a moment, his panic subsided long enough for him to register that it was the boy from District Eight standing over him, a broad smile on his face.

'Now how did you end up down there?'

**Is it just me Al, or is this our most epic cliffhanger yet?**

_Hm, I think it just might be Selina, I think it just might be. Although, not as epic as the cliffhanger for Catching Fire mind you._

**No matter how many times we have read the books that movie just… no words, no words at all.**

_No words will ever do it justice. So we pretty much decided to come straight back home and produce this wonderful chapter for you. _

**We were essentially done anyway, just need a few finishing touches here and there. So now everything is starting to come together… Or are they being pulled further apart?**

_That is an excellent question my friend. It seems that the answers may just have to wait until next chapter though._

**Indeed they may, and hopefully school isn't too hectic so we can get it done pretty soon, summer holidays, just hurry up already!**

_Well, it is a very fun chapter coming up, surely it won't take us long at all. _

**...Your opinion of fun is vastly different from the norm mind you, I think I'll have to do some very careful editing though.**

_Okay yes, you do have a point there my friend, but it will still mean that it will be written and written...quicker...than usual...I think...come to think of it my definition of quick is vastly different from the norm as well…_

**We're in year twelve, I think we're allowed to have a few issues here and there. So shall we thank our lovely reviewers Ally?**

_i think we probably should._

**They are what makes the story move so let's begin:**

_Orion Ehra: Of course insanity is good. We do not dispute that. No, Shimmer does not need to worry about her inability to prove people wrong anymore. It is probably for the best. Even if you only do two, it's better than nothing. Besides, we quite enjoy your reviews, we find them very helpful quite a lot of the time. Why the temple you ask? Why not the temple? Actually, I think we were just looking for a different way to kill someone rather than the usual stabbing in the heart or slitting the throat. You say you want Greg back? My friend your wish is happily our command, for he has just returned. You want to be friends with him? For the sake of the world, I feel as if I should not allow it. Adios my friend, adios. _

**Kat-Rue: Oml? Does that stand for Oh My Llamas? I certainly hope so!... It probably stands for lord, but oh well, either way. Kill Orion? We have to find the perfect circumstances for that if that's the road we choose to take, and who knows, Greg might be that perfect circumstance.**

_Wetstar: hm, which review to answer first...let's go in chronological order. I think we all miss sane Lyra to some extent. Yes, Toby is safe...for now...although I'm sure the fanbases will get to him soon enough. We all take this moment to mourn the passing of Ursula. Which is worse, being attacked by the careers or being forced into an alliance with Shimmer? That is a highly philosophical question. I think there is a line for Toby hugs. Don't split them you say? Well, we'll see. *Blocks ears* easy, easy, he lives!_

**Ciaraaawrrr: Aha! Our plan is working! The more invested you are the more unpredictable it gets, and that is the fun part. Knowing what's going to happen makes people lose interest, we make sure to mix it up. Careers no doubt have been quiet, but so has Greg, question is, who's more dangerous?**

_Guest: Well, we did kind of have to kill her at some point and it was as good a place as any. Yes, Lyra is a psychopath, we will admit that. Thank you for your review!_

**Koryandrs: Why thankyou *bows* we hope you continue to enjoy it, and that we hear from you soon!**

_So, thank you so much to our reviewers and of course to our readers. _

**You have no idea how much we value your support, 12780 views as of today and 246 reviews, that is insane! Also be sure to check out our new story ****Games of War**** which you can find under our author name, based on Avatar: The Last Airbender featuring all your favourite OC's (under different names mind you) and the epic bending battles that we unfortunately couldn't have in this.**

_So, check out that, or you can take a look at our original story which have mentioned a few times, over on Fictionpress, entitled __Zero Hour__. _

**Also Wattpad, Noveljoy, Readwave… we really like it okay, go ahead and get reading.**

_We would love to hear what you think. But of course, stay tuned for our next chapter of __The Forbidden Year__! And as always, read and review! _

**Love you all dearly!**

**~Selina**

_Forth Eorlingas!_

_Ally :) _


	34. Killer Instinct

**Chapter 34: Killer Instinct**

'Now how did you end up down there?' Greg asked mockingly as he stared down at Orion, who was crouched low in a defensive position, katana raised.

There was a long moment of silence, as Orion was unwilling to respond to the remark, instead he just adjusted his grip on his katana and glared up at Greg. He was more than willing to fight if he had to and he hoped Greg could see that.

Instead, the District eight boy's smile changed, from patronising to friendly, 'you're the boy from district one right?' he asked, in a much more friendly tone.

After a moment of surprise, Orion nodded, 'that's right.'

'I kind of guessed from the katana, I saw you in training with them. Trust me, I am not stupid enough to try to verse you in fight,' Greg said, holding up his hands in surrender, before suddenly looking around at what Orion could only assume was the tree line nervously, 'the rest of the careers aren't here are they?'

Orion shook his head, 'no...'

'You split from them? I thought alliances usually lasted longer than that,' Greg asked, dark eyes glinting curiously.

'Not all of them,' Orion replied, internally wondering whether or not he should be telling Greg all of this.

'I guess. Now, if you promise not to kill me the second you get out, would you like me to help you?' Greg asked.

Orion frowned up at him, 'and what's to say that you won't just kill me?'

Greg laughed at this, 'Really, you think that if I was going to kill you I would have stopped to chat? You're pretty vulnerable right now if I may say so. Besides, I'm not exactly armed.'

Orion gave him a disbelieving look and Greg just rolled his eyes, before pulling a small knife out of his jacket and holding it up so Orion could see it, 'Let's just say, I think you may have the advantage weapons wise.'

There was another extended pause, as Orion tried to figure out what he should do. First and foremost he needed to get out of the hole. If he didn't most likely he would either freeze or starve, probably freeze. And currently it seemed like his best chance of getting out was to accept Greg's offer of help. The only trouble with that was that he didn't know if he could even trust Greg. This was the longest conversation he had had with the District Eight boy, and he hadn't seen him at all during the games. A brief brainwave reminded him that Greg had originally been allied with Lyra and Ike. But why they had split he didn't know. He knew that he probably should know why, he had a vague idea that he had been told, but for the life of him he couldn't remember.

He looked up at Greg again, chewing his lower lip, still tossing up his options. There wasn't much of a choice to be made though. He needed to get out of the hole and he needed shelter and a place to rest at least for a short while. Very slowly he reached up and slid his katana back into their sheaths and nodded.

'Alright, if you help me out I promise I won't kill you,' he said and Greg smiled warmly, tucking his own knife away.

'Here, can you reach?' Greg asked, kneeling beside the hole and offering his hand.

Orion nodded and jumped up slightly, taking the hand and allowing Greg to help him clamber out of the hole. Once out Orion stood, brushing dirt and leaves of his clothes as Greg wandered around the outside of the hole, staring down into it absently.

'Thank you,' Orion looked over at him with a hint of a smile.

'No problem. You look like you could use a rest. My camp isn't far. If you wanted you could come back with me,' Greg gestured into the trees.

For a moment Orion was wary, then he nodded, exhaustion and hunger winning over any other instincts he may have had, 'Yes please.'

...

Astra stared at Lyra across the fire light, not sure how to react to what Lyra had done tonight. She'd killed Shimmer, she attacked Orion and would have killed _both_ tributes from District One tonight if Toby's letter hadn't come into play. Yet she was sitting there, playing with one of her knives, staring at it so intently that the insanity seemed to radiate from her, almost as if she was wondering how much she could push it before she accidentally cut a finger off.

'Lyra, don't you think you should be careful with that?' she asked after a long moment.

'Eh.'

Lyra's completely dismissive reply threw her slightly off guard before she said, 'Lyra I don't want you getting hurt. Please, will you just talk to me?'

'Mm.'

It was only a neutral noise, so Astra decided she really had no other option than to say, 'Look what was in Toby's letter that got you this quiet?'

This time Lyra actually looked up at her with her haunted eyes, but her lips were set in a snarl, 'I thought you read it.'

'When I realised what it said I knew that you needed to see it, it didn't feel right to read something _that _personal, especially when it had nothing to do with me,' Astra said gently.

'You're right, it has nothing to do with you, you don't need to know what it said, besides Orion probably made the whole bloody thing up-' Lyra began forcefully.

'You know that he didn't! It explains his behaviour this entire time, he's been protecting you this whole time and you won't even give him a chance,' Astra insisted.

'How has he been protecting me?' Lyra yelled, 'how? All he's done is kill innocent people. He killed Ike!'

'He had his reasons! I know they weren't very good ones but still, he's trying so hard to make up for this and-'

'Make up for it? It's not like he lost a book I leant him, he killed the only person in the world that I'm positive I care about! How could he _ever_ make up for that!?'

'I... How could you say that Lyra? The _only _person that you know you care about? How could you say that right to my face? I thought you cared about me, or do I mean absolutely nothing to you? Am I just some comfort blanket that you'll use until you go even more nuts than ever before? Have you considered killing me already? I'm betting you have!'

'Talk about blowing things out of proportion why don't you?' Lyra half laughed as she went back to toying with one of her knives.

'Me? Blowing things out of proportion?! You are the _queen_ of doing that! Seriously, how many alternate explanations have you come up with to explain away Toby's confessions of the purest feelings towards you? I'm guessing at least a hundred since you got given that letter less than an hour ago!'

'Shut up!'

'No! For once, I'm not going to. Rather than being so selfish and thinking about yourself for one moment, think about what you are putting that poor guy through by constantly avoiding confronting what you really feel towards him! Because let's face it Lyra, if you don't love him, than there is absolutely no reason for you to leave this arena alive! You know what, be selfish, and start asking yourself the hard questions! Who are you? What do you want? And what in Panem are you fighting for!?'

Lyra stared at her, the betrayal rippling through her features before she hissed, 'I'm going to bed, you take the first watch. Wake me if someone comes nearby. I'll end them, oh and by the way Astra, here's a thought. Sure you'd be dead without Orion protecting you. But where the hell would you be without me?'

...

Even as Esperanza finished off the last details of Toby's outfit, he still felt surprisingly naked and vulnerable despite being fully clothed by anyone's standards. That and Esperanza seemed to be going out of his way to make him comfortable, no tie, no stiff jackets or tight pants. It was rather casual, even if it still had a few elements of Capitol flare here or there. It was a simple, mantis green, button-up shirt, with a black vest thrown over the top that was embroidered with gold leaves. Light, black pants and a belt, and shiny black shoes which although slightly pointy didn't look as bad as he thought they would have.

Though despite being relatively happy with how he'd been made to look, he felt rather on guard nether the less. He knew that the moment he walked onto that stage, the whole of Panem would be judging him, accessing him. Deciding who he was, how he felt, what was the truth. It was enough to make anyone feel nauseous.

'What do I do out there?' he muttered mostly to himself.

'Make them love you, what else?' came a sarcastic voice and he looked around to see Johanna examining him from the door.

'There's a reason you've never been a mentor Jo, that really isn't descriptive enough,' Toby told her.

She rolled her eyes before telling him, 'Well then what do you want me to say? Cast aside all your standards and get ready to become the world's biggest suck up? Because that's essentially what you need to do. This is the Capitol we're talking about. The more dramatically fake you are, the more they'll buy it. But you're not trying to make them buy it, you're trying to make Snow buy it.'

'Buy what? It's the truth-'

'Then you shouldn't be having any problems with this interview,' she said with a callous shrug.

'Don't belittle me as if I'm a child Johanna, we're the same age,' he said through his teeth.

'You think this is about age? No. It's about brains. You willingly got yourself involved in all the crap the Capitol does, you've sold your soul to the devil and it still hasn't hit you yet,' she replied angrily.

She turned on her heel and walked out the door with even less concern for him than usual, but as he watched her leave Esperanza decided to say, 'She's been through a lot, I wouldn't take much she says to heart.'

Toby only sighed, 'I'm more concerned by the fact that she's probably right. Everyone I've come across has questioned me so much about my love for Lyra. No one believes it could be true until I get angry at them for doubting me. And the worse thing is, Lyra still thinks it's all a joke. That it's an act. Or even worse, something I've done to mess with her.'

Esperanza up looked at him, from where he was fiddling with the hem of his pants before saying, 'You don't care if anyone believes you as long as Lyra does, don't you?'

Toby hesitated, knowing how ridiculously corny it sounded but he knew Esperanza had a point, 'Yes... I came here so that somehow I could let her know how I feel. That if she could in anyway feel at least slightly the same way I feel about her, that she'd have something to fight for. But after what I've done to her... I'm pretty sure I don't deserve any affection from her at all. In fact I wouldn't be too offended if she killed me.'

'Now what do you mean by that exactly?' Esperanza asked, sounding curious to some degree.

'Well, it's just that... I feel like it was me who caused Ike's death more than anyone else. That has driven her to the brink of insanity, and all because I had the nerve to ask Orion to protect her. Maybe if I hadn't, he would have allied himself with her rather than the career pack, and be protecting her anyway. That one little letter may have changed the entire course of the games and all because-'

'You were desperate to protect the girl you loved? That doesn't sound like a bad reason to me at all Toby,' Esperanza said gently

'I didn't realise how much trouble that letter got Orion in until I saw him give it to Lyra. I was selfish when I asked him-'

'Toby, that letter saved his life tonight, you shouldn't forget that,' Esperanza reminded him gently, 'You don't have to blame yourself for everything.

Toby bit back an angry retort before he forced himself to breathe deeply for a long moment, 'I guess so.'

'Just a quick warning before you go on tonight,' Esperanza said hesitantly, 'It's very likely that they're going to bring it up, Lyra's been given a nickname by the Capitol.'

'Do I really want to know?' Toby asked quietly.

'It's better that you hear it from me rather than straight off the bat from Caesar Flickerman,' Esperanza replied carefully.

'...Fine, what is it?

'Well, it's about how she's reacted to both Botis and Shimmer's deaths, what she's done about them and-'

'For pity's sake just tell me,' Toby insisted.

'...They're calling her the Razor Kiss.'

...

The chase lights bounded around the stage and across the audience illuminating the bizarre fashions of the Capitol one by one. A sound almost like a siren rang out as Caesar Flickerman's laughter boomed and he ran onto the stage with the energy of a man a quarter of his age. His far too large smile rippled across his plastic face as the blindingly, bright lights glanced off his bedazzled suit making him glow like a disco ball. He waved at the audience, leaning on his knees as he laughed, his blood red hair making him look rather peculiar but not as much as his cartoon like performance. But he took a moment to hush the audience, trying to go for a more serious effect for just a moment.

'Now everyone, at the beginning of this year's games, our head game maker Seneca Crane identified a girl from a high numbered district as a threat. The girl from District Seven who stared down her fear with true strength. Our own Lyrana Franklin, who shocked us all with her incredibly high training score, followed by her good humour and unusual yet endearing reasoning skills on this very stage. But one question she left rather unanswered was the reality of her relationship with one boy. The mayor of District Seven's son. Toby.'

At this point there were cheers that vibrated through the audience, the people of the Capitol were on the point of exploding with excitement and anticipation, but Caesar hushed them before continuing to say in a melodramatic style, 'When the messages from home were played over the arena, no one anticipated that he would announce his unconditional love for her,' he said making the Capitolites all "aw" in response, 'We went to interview him immediately, but found out that he'd made his way to the Capitol with a former victor Johanna Mason. With that show of sheer willpower it was all too clear how desperate he was to do anything he could to help the love of his life. And he's here tonight, ladies and gentleman, Toby Brown!'

The applause was overwhelming as Toby slowly walked out, the nerves radiating from him. Esperanza and Johanna's words had shaken him quite a lot, the full extent of the spotlights were probably going to leave him sunburnt. Everyone was surveying him as he made his way to the platform and Caesar Flickerman was smiling at him encouragingly. The audience was waiting for him to do something, say something, anything really. This had to be the only time in his life where he was lost for words, and of course this was the only moment when he really needed to be talking.

'Toby come over here, you can relax,' Caesar laughed.

Toby moved towards the seat indicated to him but he could barely breathe, and eventually he managed to get out, 'Sorry, relaxing is not something that's comes easy to me as of late.'

He knew he'd spoken way too formally and a little out of order, but at least it made sense, and the tremors running through his system had seeped through his voice, so it could have been worse, Caesar smiled in condolence before he said, 'I can't imagine what you must be going through, having someone you love as much as you do in danger-'

'No, you can't imagine it, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone,' he said quietly, knowing he should have interrupted but he couldn't help himself.

Caesar nodded absorbing the statement, the entire audience dead quiet, 'Tell us what it's like then.'

Toby hesitated, not sure how to put how he'd been feeling into words, but eventually it started to come out, 'I... I never got to tell Lyra how I feel about her. Not in the right way. She had no idea how much I cared about how, she even thought I hated her. She's somehow ended up in this situation, where she could die at any moment, and there's next to nothing I can do to help her. I'm terrified every day... that a cannon will go off and it will be for her. That she could die, alone, in pain and scared, and there's nothing I can do...' Toby then got to the part that was almost as hard for him to accept as the first, 'Even if she doesn't die, I don't know if anything I've been doing... telling her in front of the world, getting myself here, having the nerve to walk on this stage and talk about her like this... I don't know if any of this is right. Let's face it, I have no idea how she feels about me. And here I am proclaiming my love for her in front of the whole world. If she makes it out of the arena, that's a pressure she doesn't deserve... especially if she doesn't feel the same way.'

Apart from losing her, that registered as one of his greatest fears. The idea that instead of making it easier like he hoped he could, that he was only making it harder for her. In fact, the idea that she couldn't love him was down the list quite significantly. He didn't mind if she didn't love him, as long as she survived and maybe that he could help her do it. If she didn't hate him, that was enough for him, even if he wished it could be more than that.

He could hear the massive "aw" that rang through the audience, making him just feel positively pathetic, but Caesar waited quite patiently till he looked up at him, 'It must be so hard to go through all of this, being so unsure of your actions. The only thing you can be sure of is that you love her,' Toby nodded gently at this and Caesar then asked, 'So why don't you tell us when you first realised you loved her?'

'I... I don't know exactly when it hit me, it wasn't a particular moment, it was pretty gradual I suppose, though I guess I must have had the feeling from the moment I met her. I just didn't know what it was that kept me coming back to her. I'm a few years older than Lyra, but we were still both kids when we met each other, and due to being from essentially different worlds... It wasn't exactly easy to find common ground,' Toby explained carefully, he hadn't really had to say any of this out loud before, 'We were at each others throats constantly, if we saw each other, we'd argue, it was the way it was. It wasn't that I was trying to insult her, or that I was trying to make her mad. But every time I tried to talk to her the complete opposite of what I thought would come flying out of my mouth and I couldn't stop it. In the end she was so withdrawn from everyone else that the only way to get her to notice me, let alone talk to me was to start an argument.'

'So you never hated her like she thought you did?' Caesar clarified.

'No,' he said simply.

'But when did you _know_? When did you truly know that you loved her?'

'I...' Toby began, about to explain that he didn't really know a precise moment but then remembered that he was supposed to be catering to the Capitol's need for a sappy love story so he had to come up with something, 'I think the moment that it really occurred to me... and it took me a long time to figure out what I was feeling towards her... This was about three or four years ago, it was around harvest time, and District Seven is just beautiful that time of year. It's just before we start bringing down all the trees so it's just really the epitome of Spring, birds in the sky, baby animals, flowers everywhere.'

He didn't quite know where he was going with this, but the Capitol was already in some sort of trance listening to him, so he just kept going, 'I'd had a fight with my folks so I went out into this field on the outskirts of the district, just going for a walk to clear my head. I'd been walking for what seemed like at least an hour when I saw her, she was surrounded by wildflowers on all angles, fast asleep in the field. It was the first time I'd really seen her... at peace, it was the first time I'd seen her completely still. She just looked so relaxed and calm, it was almost as if she was a different person.'

Toby was only half aware of how hypnotic his story had become for not just the Capitol, watching him intently, but also for the people who were hearing this from every district across Panem, it was almost as if the world just stopped while he told this story, 'I didn't get too close to her, I didn't want to wake her up. She was on her back, facing up at the sky and the sun was glancing off her hair she just... looked so... perfect. She was a goddess that put the rest of us mortals to shame, and then, almost as if she knew I was watching her, she rolled over. She was still fast asleep but even as she did she just smiled and... in that moment... I was a gonner. It took that little quirk of her mouth, and suddenly everything that made her so amazing just came flooding back into my mind and out of nowhere, nothing else mattered. I just knew that I... I loved her. And now... and now... I...'

He stopped there, he didn't have to say anything else and he knew it. It wasn't entirely made up, he'd caught her sleeping in the wildflowers several times. But that hadn't been the moment, there wasn't a particular split second, hit the nail on the head moment. It had been something that just gradually preoccupied his brain, took over his soul and wouldn't go away. He'd adjusted his way into the idea before he found himself permanently trapped and unable to escape.

Though despite his hasty fabrication of this moment, he realised that what he'd said had ended up with the desired effect. Dead silence had overwhelmed the audience and as he glanced at Caesar he noticed that tears had entered the man's eyes. He discreetly looked to the crowd and saw that there was hardly a dry eye in the entire audience. Their hands were on their hearts, staring at him wordlessly and he just sat there in this silence. He just fiddled with his hand, trying to wait it out, hoping Caesar would just say something and stop making this so awkward.

'To love another person as you love her, it's just so pure, and beautiful,' Caesar said mopping up his tears with a elaborately decorated handkerchief, 'Please, tell us more. What will it be like if she makes it out of the games?'

Toby gave a slightly hollow laugh at this, 'the key word is if, there are still seven other people in that arena and all of them want to live. Sure, she has one of the highest kill totals, which is a scary enough thought, but she doesn't want to kill anybody. Not really, I don't think she does... Orion's slightly debatable right now, but... I know Lyra, I don't think she has that murderous blood lust in her. She'll kill to defend herself or someone else, but that's the only circumstance that could make her do it. She hasn't the same ability to track down and mercilessly attack someone that so many other people in the games have. And I guess... that puts her at a disadvantage. Though, if she had that in her, she wouldn't be the person I love, she'd be a monster.'

'Of course, of course. But if she does make it out of the games, and she is still the girl that you love, what will be the plan for the two of you?' Caesar questioned, solemnly.

Toby quirked an eyebrow at this, before shrugging and while giving off his best attempt of a smile he suggested much to the amusement of the Capitol, 'Well then... I guess that I should probably ask her out.'

...

Greg led Orion through the trees away from the caved in trap, Orion following a little way behind for a few moments, before he eventually picked up the pace a little so he could walk beside the larger boy. It didn't appear that Greg's time in the arena had affected him too badly, the only visible wounds which he had were a few small grazes on his hands and a yellowed bruise across his temple and unlike Orion his clothes weren't torn or overly filthy. Greg led him on an overly complicated path through the trees, occasionally stopping him to warn him of another trap.

'You're really sheltered here?' Orion asked carefully as he stepped cautiously around another suspicious looking patch of ground.

Greg nodded, just as they entered a small clearing, 'I am. You experienced one of the traps. Even if people knew I was here they can't get close to me.'

Orion looked around the small clearing, 'did you make them all? All the traps?'

'Most of them. They're excellent for hunting. Speaking of which, are you hungry?'

For a long moment Orion felt like declining, but a painful growl in his stomach won him over and he nodded, 'Sort of.'

'Sort of? If you get a fire going I'll prepare some food,' Greg gave a Orion a questioning look, 'you can make a fire right?'

When Orion nodded again Greg smiled and wandered off to the other side of the clearing, disappearing into the trees. Orion took the time and the excuse of collecting fire wood to look around the clearing. It was quite frankly the perfect place to pitch a camp. It was sheltered from view and the elements by a thick wall of trees on every side, and obviously hidden amongst the trees were numerous traps. Off to one side, concealed by the thick undergrowth Orion could hear what sounded like a small stream, so he obviously had a constant water supply here.

He turned when he heard Greg returning, 'you've been here the whole games?'

'I have. And not once have the careers come to visit. Until now,' Greg smirked, looking very pleased with himself, 'and even if they did show up, they couldn't get to me. How's that fire going?'

Orion looked down at the pile of wood before him which he was just arranging, 'alright...you seem to be very trusting Greg. You don't know me, for you all you know I could stab you in the back later.'

Greg just flashed him a cryptic smile, 'would you though?'

'...No...'

'Exactly. I'm not stupid Orion, I don't trust people blindly,' Greg simply said.

That put an end to the conversation for a while as Orion slowly built up the fire and Greg skinned what looked like rabbits. In no time there was a steady blaze going with two rabbits being slowly turned on the spit. Orion huddled beside it, arms wrapped around his legs as he stared at the fire, occasionally glancing up at Greg who was also staring at the fire and at the slowly cooking rabbits.

Eventually Orion spoke, 'you saw that Charix is dead?'

'I did,' Greg muttered off handedly.

'Did you know her?'

'Yes and no. I had never met her before the games but seeing as we did have to spend a fair amount of time together. I knew her a little,' Greg simply said.

'I'm sorry,' Orion said.

'Don't be, it would have been a miracle if she had survived these games, she was always very sickly. I'm assuming the careers killed her?'

Orion paused, and frowned, before shaking his head, 'no...I actually don't know who did.'

'It was probably natural causes, it is very cold in here,' Greg shook his head, 'are you thirsty?'

When Orion nodded Greg tossed him a bottle of water which Orion caught, 'this is mine?'

'Yes, I took the liberty of filling it when I went and filled my own,' Greg smiled pleasantly and Orion nodded his thanks.

'I am going to owe you so much,' he smiled as he took a swig of the cold water.

Greg's smile just broadened, 'I don't think debts count for much in here. In the end we're all fighting to save our own skins.'

Orion nodded to show his agreement, 'true,' he said.

The clearing was filled with silence once more as Greg used the small knife he had to lightly prod the still cooking rabbits and Orion stared at the fire sleepily. He couldn't help the yawn which passed his lips and rubbed his suddenly heavy eyes. He had been tired before this, but this wave of exhaustion was a real shock. He blamed the warmth of the fire as he shut his eyes sleepily for a moment before forcing them open.

'Greg,' he said after a moment.

'Yes?'

'Would you mind if I maybe, I don't know, spent the night here? It's dark and I don't fancy trying to navigate my way out through those traps now given how tired I am,' he explained and Greg just smiled in understanding.

'Of course you can stay here tonight, I don't mind,' Greg said and Orion flashed him a grateful, but exhausted smile.

Before he laid down and slept like he so sorely wanted to he quickly looked up at Greg, 'are you going to stab me in my sleep?'

Greg looked genuinely surprised, 'I have to say I wasn't planning on it. Just go to sleep Orion, everything will be fine.'

Orion nodded sleepily and simply lay down next to the fire, too tired to even attempt pulling out his blanket. Within what felt like seconds, he was deeply asleep...

...

Toby had been talking to Caesar for at least half an hour by this point, and he was far more comfortable than he'd imagined he'd be. He'd sort of found a way to get things out of his head and out into the open through this. He knew that a lot of the tributes when they went through this process tried to portray a certain type of personality. He couldn't really stick to one, he managed to project the hopeless lover for a lot of it, but some more dark aspects came leaking through. He at least managed to be funny every now and then so he balanced it out.

But it took all that time for Caesar to raise the question Esperanza had warned him about, 'Now Toby, I'm sure by now you've heard the nickname Lyra has been given by the media and I was just wondering what your reaction was when you first heard it.'

Toby snorted slightly at this, 'Razor Kiss? Yeah, I heard about that...'

'And?'

'I don't know how else you'd expect her to treat the dead, it's the only way she knows how to do it with decency. In District Seven, it's a way of honouring someone, it's a sign of respect for both the living and the dead. I think that it's a misnomer, it doesn't suit her, because calling her the Razor Kiss makes her sound like a serial killer. When in truth, the whole process is her way of trying to apologise for what she's done. She's not glorifying her murders, she's respecting the life that she took. It was one thing to do it with Botis she had her mind then, but even with Shimmer she still did it. It gives me hope she's still in there somewhere I guess and- I'm sorry Caesar, I got a little off topic.'

'Not at all Toby, you've put her actions in a significantly higher amount of clarity. If that is her reasoning for actions, it certainly makes her more admirable,' Caesar assured him, 'Now I have another question for you, what does your family think of this whole situation?'

Toby almost laughed, shaking his head, 'Well I don't really know for sure, but I very much doubt they'd be happy about it. My father seems to hold the opinion that Lyra is a perpetual danger to society... but well after the large ammount of injuries she's cause me, I don't blame him. My mother, well, she's not a very opinionated person, generally she'll just go with whatever my Dad's decided. Think I've seen her contradict him all of once, and she doesn't give her opinion on anything until he's said something. Chances are I'm in for a lot of disapproval and judgement when I get home. Not just from them though, from the entire district is more like it. They've become more fond of her over the course of the Games I guess, but well there's only so many old grudges that can be burried.'

Caesar nodded in understanding, 'Well best of luck to you, hopefully you and your parents can reach an understanding about this.'

'I hope so, I hate to disappoint them, but at the same time, they always talk about me needing to set out and find my own way. Make my own choices, become my own person... a better person even if it's at the cost of the things you care about. And if Lyra is my key to becoming that better person, I think they should be proud of me,' he said restelessly, unable to help but think his dad's ego might get in the way of their acceptance.

Caesar nodded in agreement, not knowing Toby's contradictive thought, before saying, 'I indeed hope they are, you are a dedicated young man.'

'Thank you Caesar.'

'What was Johanna's reaction when you asked her to take you to the Capitol?' Caesar asked.

Toby actually laughed at that one, he could just picture what that would have been like if that had been what happened, 'Oh I am very lucky she didn't bring her axe out when I asked. She did _not_ want to come, guess I must have caught her at a rare moment of pitty, becase after about half an hour of begging she consented to take me. The look on her face when I asked, oh god if looks could kill. Demanded to know what I was thinking and was not happy with my answer.'

'And what was your answer?'

'Oh I still haven't figured that out,' Toby laughed before saying hesitantly before saying, 'I don't know what made me feel the need to come here, but I just want to be as close to her as I possibly could. I saw something break in her when she was reeped that hasn't entirely seemed to repair itself properly. Something that esserntially snapped the day that Ike died. I still see flashes of it here and ther though, her undeniable will to survive is something that just can't be taken away.'

'I'm afraid I don't quite understand where you're getting with that Toby,' Caesar offered, trying to be as polite as possible.

'I can see Lyra questioning if she has the right to survive and it scares me. She's been fighting to survive since she was a kid, she never needed anyone's help to do it though. She was always so strong and so single minded about it, she knew she had a right to live and she protected that with all her heart. Though for the first time ever I can see her questioning that drive to live, and I wanted to show her that she has something to live for. When Ike died she decided she had nothing left and no right to live as a result. When I sent her that message, part of it was so that she'd know the truth, the rest of it I guess came from me wanting to show her that she has something to fight for I guess. Keep that drive going in her.'

'Well it seems to be working to an extent she made her first kill less then an hour after you told her the truth,' Caesar said prompting a large guaff of laughter from the crowd of Capitolites, 'But I have one last question for you Toby, one that might take some thinking. What will you do if Lyra doesn't make it out of the arena?'

Toby paused, he _had_ thought about this since the start of the games, he knew what the answer was but he decided he had to clarrify it slightly, 'Assuming that the victor murdered her?' he asked quietly, and Caesar just nodded, seeming slightly wary of the darkness eminating through his tone.

'Yes, what would you do?'

His response came out in most callous and unforgiving tone even the most dedicated Hunger Games fanatics had never heard. These were the fans who had watched every minute of every games they could get their hands on since the moment they began. Even they hadn't heard such deadly certainty then the moment that Toby simply shrugged and whispered:

'Well Caesar, to put it lightly, they won't be making it back home.'

...

In front of the television in the house in the victors village in District One, Alcor let out a frustrated groan and slammed his head directly onto the table in front of him, 'why did he drink that? The idiot! Why does he just trust everyone so readily! Get out of there you moron!' he looked up to yell at the screen as Orion seemed to happily continue his conversation with Greg,

Beside him Astoria glanced over at him, then back at the screen, 'maybe he is planning on leaving Alcor, stop being so nervous.'

Alcor paused for a second, just as Orion asked if could stay where he was that night, then slammed his head back down on the table, 'stupid, stupid, stupid boy! Don't you dare go to sleep young man! Don't you dare...he just went to sleep! That boy has a death wish!'

* * *

><p><strong>Hello wonderful readers! Selina here, and as Ally has abandoned me and gone to England it shall be just me in the authors notes this update, but she sends her love. So this chapter <strong>**Killer Instinct**** is certainly interesting, you can clearly see who has it and who doesn't. Lyra, Toby and Greg, oh yeah, they've got it. Astra and Orion? Clearly it's not genetic. But as Orion gets closer and closer to danger once more, Astra and Lyra's alliance seems to be crumbling, both knowing that they can't trust the other. **

**A big thank you to our reviewers on this chapter whose support has propelled us to over two hundred and fifty reviews! That is just amazing! We thank you so much!**

**LyzeeAnne: Olly olly oxen free, found him indeed. We've got a few twists and turns planned for this one, and we hope you enjoy it.**

**Koryandrs: Glad you liked it, hopefully this chapter is up at the same standard.**

**Orion Ehra: I think you misread that bit, it's the heel of her hand, it's means she's hitting him with her wrist. Oh you never know when/if that day will come, by the looks of it Lyra winning might be the only way anyone ends up alive. Greg's back indeed, and we'll take that into consideration, there's only so much we can do without making this an MA rated fic (the highest this site allows) though. **Cliffhanger, maybe not so much especially considering we've read the books, but the next movie doesn't come out till our HSC is done and that's far too long to wait in our opinion. **We know sociopaths are fun, but they are defined as having no true emotions, Greg seems more like a psychotic rage person to us. **I prefer not to react to that description of being stabbed through the eye, but we can't take it back now, besides that's a lot harder to hit and Lyra isn't exactly an expert, the head in general is hard enough to hit for her. Don't worry there's still eight people left in the games, they all have to die at some stage and eventually it might get brutal enough for you. And as for people dying of infection/exposure? Most of the people who are stupid enough to die from that got killed off early. Personally I can't remember when we used Spanish, but I know Ally used Elvish. Every review helps, especially ones as detailed as yours. Till next time!****

****LittleMissNinjaMonkey: Hello and welcome to the family! Sorry for the lag, we had to rewrite part of this chapter a few times to get it right. But in the end we hope you continue to love it and continue to review!****

****Ciaraaawrrr: Your not a failure! You probably just have more of a life then us and that's a good thing! No offence but seeing a fan get so frustrated is just music to the ears of a writer, it means we're doing our job right. Hope you have a tonne of fun with this next chapter!****

****Earthling44: Yeah sounds about right, we're all a little mad. Horcruxes sounds like a lot of fun, it would explain a lot would it?****

****One last thank you to our fabulous reviewers, and I take my leave. So read, review, favourite and follow! We'll see you next time!****

****~Selina****


	35. Trust Broken

_**A message from the authors: This chapter contains content not for the light of heart. It's still within the rating of fiction. Though due to the less descriptive violence until this point we felt that it was necessary to alert our readers. You have been warned.**_

_**And now on with the story!**_

_**~Selina**_

_**:) Ally**_

**Chapter 35: Trust Broken**

The foggy sensations of consciousness registered to Orion as he surfaced from what felt like an abnormally deep sleep. Keeping his eyes closed he breathed deeply and and stretched, only to stop when he found he couldn't move his arms from where they were splayed on either side of his body. Almost at once his eyes snapped open, and he was blinking to try to clear the haziness from his vision so he could see. When at last his vision cleared enough he turned his head to see the ropes tied tightly around his wrists, binding him to a tree on either side of him. He frowned in confusion and jerked his arms, in an attempt to see if the ropes would come loose but nothing happened.

He looked away from the rope and bit his lip, trying to quench the panic which was slowly building in the pit of his stomach, knowing it wouldn't help. Instead, he raised his head to look around. His jacket had been removed and he could just see it lying a few metres away by the remains of the campfire wrapped around his katana. His legs were bound together from what he could gather and the rope was too tight for him to budge it.

'Hello?' he called, 'Greg, are you there? Did I roll into another trap while I was sleeping or something, because I seem to be stuck.'

For a long moment there was no reply, but eventually he heard heavy footfalls and looking around he saw Greg wandering over and depositing a collection of squirrels by the still glowing campfire. Greg then came over to him next, a small smile on his face as he stood over him.

'Well, looks like someone's got stuck again,' Greg said, crouching down slowly and prodding one of the ropes around Orion's wrist.

Orion hoped he was just joking around, 'sort of, do you think you could untie me?'

It seemed as if Greg hadn't heard him for a while as he checked the knots of the rope around both of Orion's wrists. Eventually he answered with words that Orion really did not want to hear.

'Now, why would I do that? If I untied you, you would run away and that would just be irritating,' Greg smirked down at him as Orion looked over at the rope and pulled at it again.

'What is this?' Orion demanded, and Greg shrugged, moving to check the rope around his legs.

'Call it a life lesson,' Greg replied.

'I don't understand.'

'Don't trust everyone you meet Orion,' Greg half laughed, 'first impressions can be very deceiving.'

'What do you mean?' Orion asked.

By this stage he was fighting to keep his voice calm as realisation dawned on him as to what was happening. That panic was only intensified when Greg reached into the inside of his jacket and removed a wicked looking knife and held it up so Orion could see it.

'You said you were unarmed,' Orion said sharply and Greg just smiled coldly.

'As I said, don't trust everyone you meet,' Greg said softly, 'Oh, I am looking forward to this. And this time I'm making extra sure that you're not going anywhere before I've finished with you.'

Orion looked up at him, struggling to keep his face calm, 'what do you mean, this time?'

This made Greg's smiled drop as he glared at the knife in his hands, 'my first two escaped before I could even start, Lyra and Ike. But of course Ike got suspicious of me. Just as I thought I had earned Lyra's trust enough that she would sleep without fear. So I could tie her up like I've done to you. But she broke off our allegiance,' Greg growled.

Orion listened in confusion, only for Ike's warning to suddenly come flooding back. Lyra and Ike had left the allegiance with Greg because he was some sort of psychopath. And of course he had blundered straight into a trap without even thinking about it. He looked up at Greg, who seemed to know what he was thinking.

'Of course I then heard that Ike was dead and I found out that it was you who killed him,' Greg's voice took on a growl, 'you can imagine how frustrated I was when I heard that. I wanted to kill him, but you got there first and did what I couldn't do.'

Orion was silent as Greg continued his rant, only finding his voice when it seemed that Greg had finished, 'Charix.'

He didn't know where her name came from, but suddenly the idea that she had been killed by natural causes seemed less and less likely. He knew he was right as soon as he said the name. Greg's glare was replaced by a huge smile, unashamed and unwavering pleasure.

'yes, Charix. Oh she was fun. She didn't make much noise of course, but just seeing her writhe in pain was the most satisfying experience anyway.'

'She was mute,' Orion half whispered, 'she couldn't speak, how could you-'

'Oh she found her voice in the end,' Greg smirked, 'just before she died she managed the weakest, most pitiful little word. But still, it was music to my ears.'

Orion felt sick as he watched Greg's overjoyed expression and listened to the satisfied voice. The panic was really setting in now as he realised what was happening and who Greg actually was. He had killed Charix and given the chance he would have killed Lyra and Ike, and he had enjoyed it. Greg had loved it. And now, it was Orion's turn it seemed.

Greg looked down at him and slowly came over so he could crouch right beside him, 'now, are you ready?'

'Ready for what?' Orion hissed, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists.

'Some pain,' Greg sounded thrilled by this idea, 'because I'm ready to make you scream.'

Orion looked Greg square in the eyes, 'I don't scream.'

Greg just laughed, a sound which chilled Orion to his very core, as he moved the knife over Orion's face, tip just tracing his skin, 'oh, you will.'

...

'This is only getting worse,' Kali whispered as she looked at the severe discolouration around Seir's knee.

Her district partners entire leg was swollen, red streaks stemmed out from the only half healed stab wound that had punctured his knee. Shimmer had been in charge of the medical supplies for their group. Seeing as they had split from the now deceased girl Kali had only a few bandages in her pack and some disinfectant that Enobaria had sent that clearly hadn't been enough. Seir was asleep currently under a bunch of blankets, he was sweating and every instinct was telling her to just abandon him. She should have seen the signs of infection coming; it should have been clear from his feverish behaviour. She should just abandon him, she knew that. Though she had decided at least for the mean time that she wouldn't

'Wake up,' she hissed and slapped his face harder than necessary.

Seir's eyes flew open and he looked at her, hand instantly going for his axe when she shook her head, 'No tributes?'

'No tributes. There aren't enough any stupid ones left. They wouldn't come after us.'

Seir sat up regardless, 'We need to do something, kill someone, we need something to get rid of this infection before I succumb to it. We need sponsors.'

'I know that, but who have we got to hunt down? There are eight of us left. Not too many of them will be easy enough for us to kill when you're in this condition,' she told him quite plainly.

Seir sighed in aggravation and began counting down, 'There's you and me. Eight is surrounded by bear traps and he's too far away for me to get to in this condition. Lilith is a dangerous enemy and she'd be a bitch to find, she's one of the few with tracking knowledge so she would be near impossible to trace. Orion is now without Shimmer so chances are he's met up with ten and now is part of the alliance with seven. That's something we can't question. If it was just ten and one other I'd be confident enough to say we could take them down. Even when I'm in this condition. But if Orion and the crazy bitch are together then we can't take them both.'

'That's only seven,' Kali muttered not disputing anything he said, making Seir pause to think.

'Who the hell is it then? Maybe more people are dead then I realised-'he began but she shook her head.

'There is someone else, but for the life of me I can't remember who,' she said sounding supremely frustrated.

Seir stopped for a good ten minutes, the two of them counting down in their heads, trying to figure out just who was left. Not knowing who could be out there put them more at risk than Seir's initial stages of infection. If they made a death bloody enough, the Capitol could give them money to fix it, making sure that they had the resources to take the other tributes out. They needed someone they could hunt. That was when Seir suddenly remembered just who was lingering out there. Not remembered by a single player who remained alive, maybe that's what they were aiming for after all.

'Freaking hell… We haven't seen them the whole bloody games…'

…

When Greg used the knife to create the first cut Orion immediately slammed his jaw shut and gritted his teeth, refusing to acknowledge the pain which accompanied the slice. He craned his neck up to see the small tear in his shirt and the spots of blood which he could just make out on the fabric. Greg seemed to be studying his face for a reaction as he made the next cut, parallel to the first, ripping another long slash through his shirt.

Orion looked up at him and forced a smirk, 'really, you expect me to start screaming after those pathetic little cuts?'

The response to this was for Greg to force the tip of the knife into Orion's arm, much deeper than the other two cuts. Orion winced slightly, but held his tongue none the less. Once again he glanced up at Greg and raised an eyebrow.

'What's next hm? Seriously, you call this torture? I could do worse to myself half asleep.'

Greg's lip twisted into a sneer, and he pulled the blade back, 'just you wait.'

'I am waiting. And I am very bored,' Orion feigned a yawn.

He was stopped by a sudden blow to his cheek, snapped his head to the side into the wet leaf litter. He could feel blood slowly starting to slither from his nose as he raised his head to see Greg glowering at him.

'Temper temper,' Orion chastised, 'I'm finding it a little hard to tell if you're a psychopath or a sociopath-'

He was stopped again by a second punch, this one more powerful. When he looked up again he didn't hesitate in forcing one corner of his mouth up into a smug grin, 'Okay, now I'm leaning more toward psychopath.'

Greg said nothing at first, he just grabbed Orion's throat and held the knife against his chest, the tip just digging into the skin, 'you really like to talk don't you?' he hissed after a few seconds.

Orion shrugged as best he could with his bound arms, 'I try, I really do.'

Expecting to be punched again, Orion was surprised when Greg just smiled sadistically, anger melting away in a second, 'oh, this is going to be more fun than I thought.'

Releasing Orion's throat he stood and moved down to his bound legs and studied the long tear in the fabric, still stained with dried blood from the avalanche, 'nasty cut.'

Orion just rolled his eyes and glared at him as Greg pulled away the fabric from the scabbed over gash, 'thanks, I got it in an avalanche.'

'It's not overly deep,' Greg commented.

Before Orion could reply Greg had suddenly slashed down the entire length of the cut with his knife, ripping the previously half healed flesh back open. Orion, unprepared for the searing pain, yelped and tried to pull his leg away. Greg laughed at the sound, a scarily childish laugh.

'And slowly the mask begins to crumble,' he crowed, 'but wait, this is going to get so much better!'

...

Astra hardly knew where she was going, she was just following Lyra as she moved swiftly through the forest. She was slashing at things that came in front of her face with the largest knife she had. She didn't know what prompted Lyra to move all of a sudden, they'd been talking about getting some food one second before she stopped mid-sentence. She'd wordlessly packed up camp and started moving, forcing Astra to follow her as fast as she could. There was nothing to spook her. The only thing Astra had managed to get her to answer was that they weren't running from anything. Astra was just left to assume that Lyra wanted to move away from the sight where she had killed Shimmer. But that was just a guess because she really had no idea what was going on in Lyra's head right then. Though after well over an hour of trekking over uneven icy grounds at far too high a speed, Astra stopped hands on knees panting, her cheeks flushed.

'Lyra,' she managed to get out, feeling like she'd been drenched in sweat despite the cold, 'Please, stop, a little break.'

'Why?' Lyra asked, but stopped none the less, a few metres ahead, turning to look at Astra in what could only be described as annoyance.

'I-I can't keep this up,' Astra gasped out, struggling to get her breath back, 'just a little break, please.'

'Oh for pity's sake,' Lyra muttered, in a tone that for her passed for quiet.

Astra intended to ignore it, Lyra said a lot of things under her breath, but her little twinge of aggravation registered to Lyra all too clearly who then snapped, 'What? I stopped, what else do you want?!'

It was Astra's turn to mutter under her breath, 'maybe a little consideration.'

Lyra's ears seem to twitch and she turned to fully face Astra, 'what was that?'

'It's nothing, sorry,' she replied hastily but Lyra's eyes widened and her nostrils flared.

'I. Heard. You. Astra. Say what you will. But don't freaking lie to me.'

It wasn't so much what Lyra said that caused Astra to take a hurried step back, but the deadly tone which she said it with. It was the same tone she had used last night when she had been threatening Orion. This may not have been the first time when Lyra scared her, but this was different. She knew what Lyra looked like at her most psychotic point and she was right in the firing line this time.

'Lyra, I'm sorry,' Astra said as calmly as she could, 'I think we're both tired, maybe if we took a small break we could clear our heads and then-'

'I am not tired. My head is perfectly clear,' Lyra said so flatly.

'Okay, well maybe I am and it's affecting what I say,' Astra tried again, but once more it did nothing to calm Lyra down.

'Lies, again. Why are you lying? I know what you think of me Astra. But I figured you had the decency to remember I saved your life when your little boyfriend was going to kill you.'

'I remember Lyra, and I am grateful, but we have a slight differing in opinions on what was happening there,' Astra tried to explain, taking another step back, 'But that's okay, please Lyra, we need each other in here, we have to stick together. This argument doesn't have to happen.'

'No, I think it does,' Lyra hissed, taking a step toward Astra and covering a fair bit of the distance between them, 'You keep on moving away from me. You think I'm a monster. I know you do. Botis and Shimmer were self defense. Orion's the only thing that is about vengeance or hatred. And that's what we can't agree on.'

'No Lyra, I don't think you're a monster, I think that you're just angry right now and I know that anger can cloud your judgment,' Astra said, calmer than she actually felt, 'I know that we can't agree on that, but it's fine, it really is. I'm not afraid of you.'

But as she stared at her she noticed something in Lyra's eyes seemed to break, like the surface had just been shattered like ice, 'Stop. Lying. I know you are, I can see it in you. You may not think I'm a monster but you are scared. Scared of what I might do. Do you think I wanted this? Or have you forgotten that you're not the only one in this arena against your will?' Lyra had gone quiet, the tone miserable, the anger gone, but it snapped back in a millisecond. 'Answer me! Tell the truth!'

Astra paused, breathing shallowly, before nodding and setting her features into a glare, 'you want me to tell the truth? Fine. I'm not scared of you. Not at all. In fact, I feel sorry for you, because of what this place has done to you. I know I'm not the only one in here against their will, do you think that I've forgotten Chance, Belle, Charix, Iris, Sparky, Rupert, Jinx, Farrow, Basil, Ursula, Cady, Cole?...Horace, or Ike-'

Half-way through the word Astra realised she was too late to stop it coming out. If she hadn't ducked in that moment the Games would have ended for her right then and there. Lyra's rage had completely overcome her and the knife which she'd still been holding that entire conversation left her hand and spiralled towards her head. Astra heard it whistle past her head and thunk into a tree nearby. A terrified gasp left her mouth and she looked up to see Lyra looking just as shocked as she was, but her hand was all too close to another knife in her belt.

Astra didn't wait to find out if she would throw another. She was already up and running as fast as she possibly could into the trees, feet flying over the ice and stones, but somehow still staying balanced. She had to move fast, running could only get her so far, she also had to hide. Lyra could outrun her, the trees were out because she could out climb her as well, hiding was the one thing that might save her. If she could get to a place fast enough before Lyra caught her.

But little did she know that Lyra hadn't come after her at all, she just stared at the spot she had last seen Astra. Confusion filled her features, but as she looked up to see where the knife had buried itself in the tree, the realisation hit her of just what she'd done. Her breathing quickened, and she fell to her knees, making anguished noises, shaking her head wildly. She'd just done something she'd never wanted, or thought she could do, she had just threatened an innocent life. Her choking sounds became more and more confused and panicky before she just took a deep intake of breath. A breath so sharp and sudden that time seemed to stop for a moment as she managed to get out a single word that she just couldn't control.

'No.'

…

For Orion the next few hours felt like an eternity. He had started out making snarky comments whenever he could and holding back every pained cry. Though as time passed, the comments diminished and the cries of pain started to become harder and harder to hold in.

As he lay in the ground, still bound, his eyes closed as he tried to regulate his breathing, he could just hear as Greg's heavy footfalls approached him again. He forced his eyes open just in time for Greg to seize hold of his hair and wrench his head up.

'Here,' Greg said boredly, holding up Orion's water flask and forcing him to take a few mouthfuls of water before chucking the flask back over beside Orion's pack and katana, which lay beside the fire.

Greg moved to walk away when Orion spoke for the first time in the last few hours, 'what are you doing?'

'Nothing that concerns you at the moment,' Greg replied, 'but you'll find out soon. Trust me.'

When he moved back out of sight Orion lay back on the leaves and once again shut his eyes. His whole body was one massive raw ache, he didn't think there was one part of him that wasn't cut to ribbons. His shirt had long since been ripped to shreds and offered as much protection from the freezing wind as fishing net, leaving him shivering as the icy breeze drafted through the clearing. But it wasn't the cuts which were constantly being made that was the worst part, it was the cauterisation which always followed soon after. Greg may have been a psychopath but he certainly wasn't stupid; he obviously knew that if he wanted Orion to last longer than a few hours then he would have to minimise blood loss. And this meant that after every few cuts that he made, Greg would use a super-heated knife blade to seal the worst of them.

Orion peeled his eyes open and craned his neck to see if Greg was anywhere in sight. He was sorely disappointed to see him crouched just a few meters away over the fire. What he was doing Orion couldn't see, but he could almost guess that whatever it was would be bound to cause him yet more pain. When Greg moved to stand, picking up the knife from the rocks beside him, Orion squeezed his eyes shut. He clenched his hands into fists and releasing a deep breath, trying to both calm and brace himself for the next round.

Absolutely no amount of preparation could have prepared him for the pain which came next as Greg ripped open a huge gash down his arm. He then smiled knowingly, and precisely placed the tip of the blade at a point on his arm, just below the rope bonds, and slowly applied pressure. Orion gritted his teeth, biting his lip to the point that blood filled his mouth as every second added to the intense pain which was radiating from the wound. Orion thought it was never going to end, that he would keep applying that slow pressure until the knife burst through the other side of his arm. But out of no where Greg stopped and pulled the knife out of Orion's arm. The pain slowly died down to a painful throb as opposed to the burning agony and Orion felt his arm relax, until Greg forced a finger into the wound.

The pain which exploded from the wound was like nothing he had ever felt before in his life. It was literally like all the pains from before this moment had been collected together and he was experiencing them all at the same time. He didn't know what Greg was doing, but it was causing lights to flash behind his eyes and he could feel tears unintentionally leaking down his face. For a moment, Greg stopped whatever he was doing, but the next time the pain started it was so intense that a choked shriek escaped Orion's lips and he half passed out from the sheer agony.

He came to as Greg threw a bucket of frigid water over him, jolting him back to awareness as he coughed and jumped in shock. Greg just nodded in approval, seeing that he was awake and placed the bucket down, crouching beside Orion, who was attempting to blink water from his eyes.

'Did you enjoy that by any chance?' Greg asked sweetly.

Orion tried to reply, but when no sound came out he just closed his eyes and rested his head back against the leaves. He was desperately hoping that this would end soon, he wasn't exactly sure how he wanted it to end, but he just wanted this pain to stop. He gasped as he felt the knife dig into the flesh over his collar bone. Whimpering involuntarily as it dug in deeper, tearing a long, deep slice down his chest. Greg continued making these cuts, all varying in depth and size, and most of them slicing over older cuts which he had already made. This time, Orion just couldn't seem to piece together the will to stop the pained whimpers which escaped his lips. He thrashed weakly, attempting to pull away from the constant pain.

When Greg eventually stopped Orion was crying, the pain now just too much, his usual stoic mask crumbled away, incinerated and cast to the winds. He would have been cursing his stupidity at wandering blindly into this trap, but the pain had fogged his mind so much that even that thought was too much. All he could think about was the pain, the agony had consumed his very being and taken over every ounce of willpower that he had left. Greg, who appeared to have guessed the point which Orion had reached, tapped the tip of the bloody knife against Orion's cheek.

'Oi, look at me,' he said sweetly.

Orion shook his head, and squeezed his eyes closed, refusing to look up at his tormentor, until he felt the tip of the knife press into his cheek, drawing blood. Eventually his forced his eyes open and looked up at Greg. He was hoping to convey some portion of hatred and defiance. Though he knew that it was most likely a pitiful stare filled with tears and pain.

'What?' he could barely form the word.

Greg just shrugged, 'oh nothing, I was just checking that you were still conscious. I don't want you to miss this next part!'

Swallowing Orion just blinked at him and said nothing, not being able to anyway. Greg didn't seem to fussed about continuing the conversation as he twisted one hand into Orion's hair and wrenched his head to the side so hard it felt like his neck would break. Then he plunged the tip of the knife into Orion's exposed cheek.

Orion didn't know what Greg was doing, all he could register was more pain ripping through his cheek, from just below his eye right down to his jaw line. It seemed to take hours as Greg delicately manouvered the knife in intricate lines across his cheek, occasionally stopping to wipe blood away from where he was working. But eventually it ended and Greg seemed to sit back to examine his work.

Suddenly, Orion felt the bonds around his wrists being loosened, and when he forced himself to look over he saw Greg untying his arms. He frowned in questioning, but Greg just smiled cryptically.

'I just want you to see this, it's too good for you not to,' he explained, as he untied Orion's other arm.

The pain that accompanied being dragged up was too much and the scream which tore from Orion's throat could not be held back. Many of the cuts which had scabbed over tore open with the movement and more blood spilled down Orion's already blood soaked shirt, and sprinkled the wet ground. Greg wasted no time, laughing at the sound gleefully as he dragged Orion back over the leaf litter.

'Take a look,' he announced proudly as he dumped Orion beside the pond, then seized his hair and forced him to look down into the glassy surface.

The pond water probably shouldn't have been that reflective, but Orion vaguely managed to register that it was probably the Game Maker's tampering. But that was not the most important thing on his mind. What was more concerning to him was the huge symbol which was on his face. Carved into the flesh of his cheek, oozing blood all over his face and into his hair, was a crude District One symbol. The sight of it made him feel sick as Greg beamed down at him, appearing just as proud of that horrific wound as an artist would of a masterpiece.

'What do you think?' Greg asked gleefully, 'impressive right?'

Just shaking his head Orion looked up at Greg in terror and pain, 'please no more,' he forced out.

In response, Greg just threw back his head and laughed before suddenly his entire face was wiped clean of all joy and only the eerie anticipation remained. 'Oh no, no, no. You're a fighter. I can have a lot more fun with you before you finally give out. I'm going to enjoy every little moment of our time together. And I'm going to make it last as long as I possibly can.'

**Um… so yeah… that happened…**

_Well, it wasn't as bad as it could have been._

**Yeah, because with what's being planned it's only going to get worse.**

_As Greg says, Orion is a fighter, we can have lots more fun with him._

**Oh yeah, and throwing in the fact that Lyra's just cracked and almost killed Astra and you have some very dangerous people running around.**

_You must admit that it made for a very interesting chapter. First chapter back in what? Three months?_

**Two months and a week… but who's counting… maybe our reviewers are... given the fact that only three of our readers appear to love us anymore *makes upset kitten face***

_But I think that it is only proper that we thank our three reviewers._

**Of course! Let's get to it:**

_**Orion Ehra: Well technically it's never stated that Johanna was the last female tribute from District Seven, besides, how do you explain Xandra? And this is fanfiction, cannon is only used as a very loose term. Maybe they are, but aren't you the one encouraging us to notch up the violence? The comparison between Lyra and Toby and Katniss and Peeta is justifiable, and logical as well. Capitolites may not be an official term but we enjoy it. Toby could have put it more bluntly, but then again, it's creepier when it's vague. Thanks for your review, and hopefully the torture is enough to keep you contained for a while.**_

_**Ciaaawrrr: No we're afraid you cannot have a hint. We like to keep you all guessing. Just about everyone could slap Orion across the face. They are fun to ship those two. We thank for your review and your continued awesome support!**_

_**Earthling 44: Agreed it is a great place. And really, is the weather ever good in England? Yup, Toby is in a right royal mess. But that is evidently what true love does to one such as him. So, you have your answer as to what will happen with Greg. Do you still want more? You'll know how it ends eventually, seeing as people are dropping like flies, it could be sooner than you think.**_

**So thank you to our completely and utterly fabulous reviewers!**

_You all continue to amaze us with your unending support even though we seem to leave for months at a time._

**We truly don't mean to, just our school schedule is hectic, we really love this story and one day it will be updated thoroughly more regularly.**

_But for now we shall continue to update whenever we can. Always know that we shall never abandon this story though._

**We'll always come back and make sure that this story continues. So please, do drop us a review, a favourite, a follow. The more support we get the more determined we are to get a chapter up.**

_So let us know what you think and we'll see you all soon!_

**We love you all!**

**~Selina**

_You know, I'm running out of crazy farewells, I need to watch more movies._

_Ally :)_


	36. Wrath of the Elements

**Chapter Thirty Six: Wrath of the Elements**

When the sun rose the next morning Astra was a little surprised that she was still alive. Though at this thought she internally scolded herself thinking such a thing. Lyra wasn't a monster, she knew that. But all the same their alliance was over, and to push it would mean certain death. Something in Lyra had snapped, and Astra had a feeling it had been broken for longer then she realised. It was probably best for both of them if they went their separate ways for however long either of them had left to live.

Sticking her head out of the small burrow cautiously she glanced around the forest at the snow banks, the icicles hanging from the trees and the bare, ice covered rocks. It was cold, and getting colder, as it always did in-between kills. Inside her burrow it wasn't too bad, the thick earth and rocks seemed to trap heat quite nicely. Sliding back inside she sat back on her sleeping mat and pulled her pack over to her.

Now she was on her own she had to plan out her strategy. While she knew that her chances of surviving to the end were slim, all the same she wasn't about to run up to the careers and ask that they kill her just to get it out of the way. In fact, she was more determined than she had ever been to find some way to maybe, just maybe, survive and get home.

If she could find a decent hiding place, like the one she had now then maybe she could wait it out and hope that the others would kill each other. That was unlikely though; the Game makers always liked a dramatic face off at the end between the final two. And then there was the problem of food and hunting. Yes, she could hunt, if she needed to, but that in itself was dangerous. She would be out in the open, by herself, when she was now the weakest player left in the games.

Sitting back against the wall of the burrow Astra carefully counted off on her fingers who was left, 'Orion, Lyra, Seir, Kali…the Guy from Eight what's his name... Greg and…' she trailed off, unable to think of the final person.

Shrugging she rested her chin in her hand to think. She could maybe survive, maybe, if she planned this out well. It was all so hard, to do all this by herself. Yes, she had stuck out by herself at the very start, but it had not been easy, and then there had been a much bigger pool of tributes for the careers to hunt. Now she was probably the centre of their attention, no doubt they would be coming after her because she was the weakest link in these games now.

The wisest thing for her to do would be to find an alliance. And there was only one person left in this arena that she could go to now. She needed to find Orion.

…

As night had set in Greg had at last ceased his merciless torture of Orion in favour of sleep. Of course Orion had been bound tightly to a nearby tree, the ropes pulled so tight he could hardly breathe and any movement made them rip a little more into his skin. None the less, exhausted and weakened severely Orion had almost at once fallen into a deep yet troubled sleep, only to woken the next morning by a sharp slap to the face. Stiffly he raised his head to see Greg standing over him, looming large against the grey clouds overhead.

'How was your sleep little one?' Greg asked, smiling cruelly as he uncapped Orion's flask.

Gratefully Orion swallowed the water which was offered to him, but when Greg offered him what appeared to be left over rabbit from the night before he turned his head away, knowing he couldn't stomach food. Still smiling Greg stood and moved around the tree, pulling his knife from his belt. Orion felt the circulation flow back into his limbs as the ropes loosened, though he was far from thankful for it, he didn't want to think about what would come next.

As the ropes fell away he was tempted to bolt, but before he could do more than process the single hopeful thought, Greg seized his arm and dragged him away from the tree, toward the low burning fire. Glancing at it properly for the first time Orion noticed it was mainly just glowing coals. The psychotic grin on Greg's face confirmed one thing; whatever was coming next, he wasn't going to like it.

Dumping him down next to the fire, Greg set about unlacing Orion's mud covered boots. Quickly guessing what was about to happen, Orion lashed out and tried to scramble away. Unstartled Greg reacted faster, pinning Orion back down, and jamming his fist against one of the raw, open wounds on Orion's leg. Gritting his teeth, determined not to cry out, he was distracted long enough for Greg to pull off one of his boots and jam his now bare foot into the coals of the fire.

Blistering pain radiated from where his skin made contact with the glowing coals, blasting up his leg. He stiffened and on instinct tried to pull his leg away. Greg seemed quite content to relax his hold on his ankle, allowing Orion to pull away from him. As Orion attempted to regulate his breathing and recover his breath, Greg deftly unlaced his other boot.

'Not again,' Orion tried to scoot away but Greg simply dragged him back and without ceremony pressed his other foot into the coals.

He couldn't contain the yelp which passed his lips. When at last Greg released him, he crawled away from the fire like a wounded dog, desperately wishing that there would be some snow close enough to the fire for him to reach. Greg never allowed him to make it that far, wrenching him up onto his knees.

'If you want to get to the snow, you're going to have to walk,' he hissed.

Orion's eyes widened slightly and he shook his head desperately, 'I can't,' he wavered.

Smiling cruelly, Greg pulled him up, 'you don't have a choice.'

The second he set Orion on his feet, the intense agony which blazed from his burned soles was too much and he collapsed back to the wet floor, breath coming in sobbing heaves. Not about to take no for an answer Greg wrenched him back to his feet.

'Walk or I start removing toes.'

Seeing the knife in Greg's hand was enough to tell Orion that he wasn't joking. Gingerly he took a step, his teeth clenched so tight his jaw ached. His legs wobbled but he remained standing. He made it a few more steps before he collapsed again, but this time he managed to force himself up on his accord knowing that complaints were exactly what Greg wanted to hear.

After what seemed like an eternity of limping steps and collapsing, Orion eventually felt the blissful freezing snow under his feet. He slumped, exhausted but at last free of the burning agony. Greg stood over him, nodding as if he was impressed by the strength of Orion's will.

This didn't last long before Greg seemed to tire of waiting and without warning knocked Orion around the head hard enough to send him thudding to the ground.

...

Lyra hadn't slept all night; she was sitting there against a tree, immobile. Her eyes were glazed over like she wasn't entirely conscious of anything around her. She stared blankly at the landscape before her as the rising sun cast shadows through the tree. She was so still that frost had formed in a thin layer over her face, making her skin slightly blue. Despite her complete lack of motion which had lasted since she turned on Astra, she suddenly moved her head.

She was looking towards the west, blinking slowly making ice drip off her eyelashes. She stared intently at something in the distance, completely invisible to all but her. It wasn't the first time she'd seen it, it's what she'd been following all day yesterday. She needed to understand what it was, why she was seeing what she was seeing. She slowly rose from her seating position into a crouch and began slinking forward, animalistic in her movements, staying low. Bit by bit she inched forward, getting closer and closer to what she was seeing. Once she was near however she stopped suddenly.

She stared forward, looking at the head and shoulders she could see through the trees. A boy was standing not ten feet away from her. He was tall and somewhat muscled; he wasn't facing her so she couldn't see his face. Though she could catch glimpses of his golden skin and bristly black hair through the branches. Usually whenever she drew near to the figure, it would only get further and further away. This time it stayed exactly where it was, and she moved hesitantly towards it.

When the figure turned it nearly gave her a heart attack, because she found herself looking into a familiar pair of dark eyes, 'I-I-Ike?...' she whispered in a heart breaking, pained tone.

He just gazed at her, not saying a word, completely motionless, 'Ike? Is that you? It can't be you...' Lyra choked out.

She stepped slightly closer, reaching out for his hand, trying to convince herself of whether or not it was real, but he pulled his hand away and took a step back, 'You're really enjoying yourself aren't you?

'You're dead,' Lyra whispered

'How can you be so heartless?' he asked cruelly.

'...How are you here? How can you be…? No, no, this isn't possible… this isn't… no. I won't believe this. I can't believe this...' Lyra said shaking her head wildly, his face in the sky that horrible night had confirmed it, he was dead.

She'd fallen so far, yet the most twisted part of her brain was reminding her of something that made her feel truly selfish. If Ike hadn't been dead, if it was all a big misunderstanding she had killed two people, she'd descended into insanity, she had become the monster they'd wanted, for nothing. Everything she'd done, every struggled breath, was all for Ike. Every time she'd attacked Orion, it all had been to avenge the only person that she'd never doubted the friendship between them. If he was alive, if he had somehow survived, it was all for nothing.

That selfishness in her was being quickly overwhelmed by relief that she was trying to maintain. The sanity that was left in her system was desperate to remind her that this was all in her head. However the rest of her was so desperate for Ike to be alive, that she couldn't handle it.

'I thought you were dead...' she whispered.

'Well the universe seems to enjoy proving you wrong,' he replied flatly before muttering, 'Still can't believe...'

'Still can't believe what? What Ike?' Lyra asked desperately.

'What the hell did you do? Astra, Orion, I don't understand,' he said.

Lyra stared at him, 'But… but… now that I have you, everything's going to be okay right? You're okay, I can be okay. You'll come with me right?'

'No, I'm fine here,' he replied shortly.

'What?'

'There is no point now; you're always up to something. Botis, dead. Shimmer, dead. Sure you can manage it? Can you just let it go? You are never going to be separate from them, even with death,' he said disjointedly and Lyra felt a sheer cold sweep through her system, Ike would never talk to her like that, and yet he was.

'But Ike… it… it was all for you. I was trying to win for you…' she stuttered out, all logic and reasoning that she'd try to maintain falling apart.

'You really expect me to believe that?'

'Ike please, you have to believe me. I need you to know that, please,' she begged, tears gathering in her eyes.

Ike moved away from her, pulling away as she reached for his hand, 'Don't, just don't.'

…

Seneca Crane watched as the game makers surrounding him desperately tried to figure out how to regain control. Their holographic version of Ike was slowly backfiring, what had meant to be a tactic to spur Lyra back into her homicidal state and out of withdrawal seemed to be failing. Because as she broke down further and further, she no longer needed the voice clips to prompt a response. She was responding to things that weren't being said, they hadn't even started to assemble a response before she spoke again, clearly having heard something they weren't.

'Take the holograph away,' Seneca said hastily, trying to find a way to regain control, she was getting upset, not angry, and that was not the reaction he wanted.

When they removed the vision of Ike, Lyra continued to stare at the spot where he'd been, and then seemed to move her head, as if he was pacing away from her. She was hallucinating now; they'd poked the sleeping bear. And none of them knew what was going to happen next.

…

Lyra watched as Ike started to move away from her, and she desperately moved forward and grabbed at him, this time her hand finding his as he turned back to face her. His hand was in hers now and as he wrenched it free, she knew this was real. She had felt the familiar grip of his hand, and that was enough to convince herself that it was one hundred percent real. However that only seemed to make her feel more and more helpless, because if he was really here, he was really mad at her.

'Ike, please, you have to understand, I thought you were gone. I thought that you'd died, and I was so desperate to make things right. To tell the people you loved what you'd wanted me to tell them. I wanted to do right by you. Because I thought you'd died, and it was all my fault. Please, just say something; stop looking at me like that, I was trying so hard, for you, please.'

'If it really was for me then that's nice, but I'm having trouble believing that. Because quite frankly that just sounds like some delusion you've come up with to justify your actions. You're not going to use me as something to blame for how many attempted murders? What is it by now? Five maybe? Orion three times, Seir once and then there was Astra less than twenty four hours ago. Let's not forget your two successful ones either. Pin that all on me Lyra? I don't think so. When I was drawn from that reaping bowl and I stood across the stage from you, I knew then and there how dangerous you'd get. You had ever capability a career would have and it was all instinct. The moment you said you weren't sure if you'd ever be able to kill someone, I knew it was a lie. And so did you.'

Lyra stared at him, eyes wide, mouth slightly apart; hearing him lecture her was something she hadn't expected. He was reflecting every fear that had been raging in her mind back on her; he knew everything she'd ever doubted about herself. He knew all the pinpoints of her destruction, every element of her downfall. She'd been terrified since the day she first acted out that she was fooling herself into thinking this was all for Ike. And now he didn't even believe her, so why should she believe herself?

'Ike…' she whispered.

He just shook his head looking angry and ran off into the trees, and this time Lyra didn't chase after him. She stared after him, shaking not from cold but from shock and fear, the absolute certainty that she was turning into the monster they'd always wanted her to be. The monster the Capitol wanted to see. She collapsed into a heap against a tree, striking her head against it hard enough to shake the branches. Trying to rid herself of these images, trying to force herself to cling to the part of her brain trying to tell her she was hallucinating. Because she couldn't let it be true. She couldn't let her insanity be real.

…

Watching Orion thrash and feeling as he strained to pull up from where his head was submerged in water was a wonderful feeling. Greg smiled, adjusting his grip on Orion's head slightly, levering his head out of the water for a moment, watching as he gasped for air for a moment before he was plunged back under. The struggles intensified and Greg had to hand it to the District One boy. He wasn't giving up easily.

Eventually he pulled Orion's head out of the water fully and held him up on his knees. Water was streaming down Orion's face as he spat it out and coughed.

'Enjoying yourself?'

'Thoroughly,' Orion gasped, 'I enjoy being punished by all the elements in a short period of time.'

Greg was once again confused by yet another nonsensical comment which came out of the District one boy's mouth, 'huh?'

'Well, there was the avalanche, so snow, there was Lyra, which I think is the element of surprise, there was your knife, so metal slash earth, then you just had to go and use fire. Now I've had water all I need is for the Gamemakers to send in a tornado. Hey, Mr Crane sir, could you do that? You know, get rid of him with a tornado and let me live? Please?'

Saying nothing, Greg snorted and dunked Orion's head back under. For a time Orion was still, attempting to conserve oxygen, but as the seconds ticked by he started to strain against Greg's hand in an attempt to pull up. Gradually the struggles diminished, becoming minor convulsions before Greg felt him go limp.

With a satisfied smirk he dragged Orion away from the water and dumped him into the recovery position, thumping him roughly on the back a few times. After a minute or so Orion gagged, his eyes springing open as he vomited up the water in his lungs. He looked up at Greg slowly, terror reflected all across his face, which only made Greg laugh.

'So, are you up for round two?'

…

Surrounded by the most superior technology in Panem, the leader of the game makers paced uncomfortably back into the room. He'd just received another rather furious set of pleas from the District One Mentors, insisting that he do something to rid their tribute of his captor. Public opinion was vastly against the tortuous efforts of the boy from District Eight, but unless there was a direct order from President Snow his hands were tied.

'This is ridiculous Crane,' Plutarch insisted, who'd been monitoring the life signals for hours by this point, 'No one is enjoying this, the ratings are plummeting, we need to get rid of this Greg boy.'

'You know the rules Heavensbee,' he retorted angrily, 'I can't set a trap with the direct intention of killing a specific tribute unless the President orders it.'

'We have mentors from multiple districts, we have the people of the Capitol all of which are telling us to stop him,' Saffrah said hesitantly.

'I don't have my orders, and until we have them-'

'We could guide another tribute towards them,' Vayda spoke up suddenly, 'that wouldn't be a violation of the rules.'

Crane hesitated for a moment before briskly walking over to a nearby game maker's computer, 'Show me where the nearest tributes are to that clearing.'

'There are three within a similar distance to one another, the girls from districts four, seven and ten,' they replied, zooming out to show the signals being let off by the trackers were being shown.

'The only one who'll do anything to stop it is ten,' Plutarch commented darkly, 'the girl from seven might just watch it happen.'

Seneca paused for a long moment, considering the repercussions of what this action could accumulate to, before slowly nodding and announcing, 'Guide Astra in, she thinks she's the weakest link in the games, give her a chance to prove that she's not. This is going to be an interesting fight.'

* * *

><p><em>Wassup everybody, long time no see!<em>

**Four and a half months, must be a record even for us… we're really, honest to god sorry everyone!**

_But unfortunately, as we've stated half a million times by now, we're in our final year of school, and I had a very large round of exams recently, so I just sort of holed myself up like a hermit crab and didn't come out._

**I had the same exam block, plus this annoying thing called a major work… *jitters uncomfortably* it haunts my memories even now...**

_Ah, the joy of major works … taking up every waking moment and turning procrastination into a blessing from some heavenly being._

***Begins sobbing uncontrollably* I want to not work for a split second! Ally, do you think the reviewers are going to be mad at us for not updating?**

_Do you want my honest answer or the sugar coated one?_

**AHHH! QUICK BEG FOR THEIR FORGIVENESS!**

_By torturing Orion some more?_

**Dauntless Duck: Well Milly, sorry it's taken so incredibly long, but well, it's here now... we're so sorry for the wait! We're glad you're enjoying yourself and we hope you continue enjoying it. We hope we can continue updating as soon as possible, and we hope to maintain your support!**

_Orion Ehra: Ah yes, you and your logicality. You can be incredibly interesting to have a conversation with. I must thank you for your fan- ficseption, it was quite helpful in coming up with a few of the earlier scenes. May the light or whatever shine upon you to (where is that reference from by the way?)_

**Still Addicted: Keep calling yourself by a name, we become buddies with are regular reviewers! We're grateful that you're enjoying it and all the suspenseful moments that come with it, we've updated now, so sorry about the wait!**

_Guest: Here is the long awaited new chapter my dear!_

**Ciaraawrrr: Greg certainly is, he gives us supreme nightmares! Kali and Seir are incredibly fun to write together, but as Lyra always said they couldn't last long without the other. Hmm.. A hint... let us see... well... We're not good at hints, we'll try to think of one for the next chapter. Hope to see you next chapter and that you don't explode in the meantime!**

_LyzeeAnne: It certainly doesn't look like any of our pretties will make it out the way they're going right now does it? Well, we can always hope can't we. Ah yes, the wonderful Greg, you just gotta love to hate him._

**GreenPokeGuy: ...We all hoped it wouldn't be for another couple of months to, but there's an HSC to be taken... Ugh! Orion's certainly in trouble now, and poor little Astra indeed! Seems you've figured out who the last tribute is but the question is, what will it mean when they finally emerge from hiding? We swear that it won't be four and a half months this time! Thanks as always for your review!**

_Earthling44: Indeed the Capital will find some way to possibly kill Greg off … possibly … who knows if their daring plan will succeed. Yes, the Careers and their knee injuries, they do deserve a bit of sympathy it seems at the moment. Good luck with your own inundation of course work my friend and hopefully you enjoyed the chapter._

**Ugh… did we work hard enough? Have they forgiven us yet?**

_I don't know, perhaps we should ask them? Reviewers, have we been forgiven?_

**I don't hear anything… wait a second I have it! I know the cure… We should probably tell them that we had to write two chapters at the same time!**

_We did indeed. Which means that the second part to this is already written and ready to go!_

**Dear lovely readers if you soothe our fears of your hatred and disappointment by getting ten reviews in, we shall post the next chapter immediately!**

_That is a solemn promise to you! So read, enjoy and please let us know what you think._

**Please do, we'll see you soon we promise!**

**~Selina**

_Ally :)_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Additional Note from the Authors: In times that only one of us can find the time to write, we have been going through and updating older chapters of this story, the first two chapters have already received this treatment, go check it out!<strong>_


	37. Subversion

**I knew they were mad at us!**

_Either that or we just posted when they're all busy. Which is a much nicer option. _

**I guess so… I still miss our reviewers, hopefully this'll make a few more come back.**

_This is the fastest we've updated in years! _

**Yeah that's probably true, so let's quickly thank our reviewers and get into it!**

_Indeed, indeed! _

**DauntlessDuckling: Definitely glad that you thought so, but we've waited a couple of days, and the next chapter is here, so please weigh in and let us know what you think of our newest chapter.**

_Orion Ehra: Yes, you were helpful last time! Odd, I know. A slightly creepy teddy bear, but a teddy bear none the less. Actually, we do have a diagnosis for this type of insanity, but it would be very odd to just suddenly start naming it in the middle of the chapter. But, beating someone to death with a brick is dull … you can't write a 37+ chapter fanfiction on that. As for Greg, he will stay right the way he is. You may be able to stomach a fair amount of blood and guts in descriptions but there are people who can't. Thanks for the reviews!_

**Chapter Thirty Seven: Subversion**

In the living room of the Ehra family's house, Astoria was seated on the floor only a few feet from the television, her eyes glued to the screen. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she watched in horrified silence as the monster from District eight continued his relentless torture of her son. Not far away Alcor stood by the door, his fists bruised from where he had struck the wall several times. Caelum Ehra watched furiously the actions taking place in the Capitol, angry and disbelieving that anyone would have the nerve to do this to his grandchild. His hands were tightly grasping at his coat, veins popping out along his knuckles before he turned and yelled at his son:

'Are you happy now Alcor? He obeyed you and volunteered and now look at him. This is all _your _fault!'

In response to her son's cries of pain Astoria buried her head in her knees, covering her ears, unable to watch anymore. Alcor said nothing; he was simply staring down at the floor, the walls, anywhere but at the screen. Behind the glass of the television, Orion shrieked again and Caelum heard the distinctive thud of Alcor slamming his fist once again into the now slightly dented wall.

'I didn't want this,' Alcor muttered.

'Well what did you want?' Caelum rounded on him.

It seemed Alcor was unable to, or unwilling to respond. Instead he slowly sat beside Astoria and gathered her into his arms where she latched onto him, sobbing against his chest, refusing to look at the images of her tortured child.

…

_The faint smell of wildflowers spurred Lyra to raise her head as the delicate stems of nectar tickled her nose. She smiled lightly picking a flower and twirling it between her fingertips, stretching as she felt the sunlight beat down on her. She rotated her shoulders and sat up, barefoot in the sea of flowers around her. Staring up at the cornflower blue sky, it was a perfect day with only a few white clouds streaking across the horizon. Content with the world for a moment it took her a moment to notice someone sitting not too far away from her, on a boulder near the stream. It was Toby._

_Although it was not in her nature to approach him, for some reason she couldn't help it and she slunk towards him, clearing her throat when she was about a meter away. Toby turned to look at her and suddenly a smile she wasn't sure if she'd ever seen on his face, was fixated on her. His midnight eyes glowing as he looked at her, so content with simply seeing her right there._

'_Lyra,' he said softly._

'_Hi there… What are you doing here?' she asked curiously._

'_You tell me, this is your fantasy world,' he laughed with a shrug._

'_...This is a dream?'_

'_Course it is, you're in the arena remember? But you wanted me to be here with you, so why don't you tell me why you think I'm here?'_

_He said it so playfully that she didn't entirely know how to respond, before she slowly went and sat beside him, staring at the ripples in the water as a few fish lazily swam by. She didn't say anything for a long moment and Toby seemed to feel no need to prompt her further. He seemed willing to wait until she was ready to say something._

'_It doesn't make sense,' she said shortly._

'_Your mind brought me here for a reason,' he teased lightly, still grinning at her._

'_Not that… you said... you… you loved me…'_

'_I do seem to recall saying that several times, but I get a distinct feeling that you don't believe me,' Toby replied, and before Lyra knew what was happening, he reached out and took her hand._

'_It's not… No I don't… I thought you hated me… to find out you're claiming the opposite… that doesn't seem… possible,' Lyra said, staring at his hand as it gripped hers, it didn't feel unnatural for it to be happening and she made no move to get away, she was so confused._

'_Possible that I in particular loved you? Or that anyone could?' he asked with caution._

'_...I don't know… both I guess…'_

'_Makes sense, you've had a hard life, harder than most people will ever experience,' he said simply and she stared at him._

_There was another long silence as she continued to stare at him, she knew it wasn't real, he had confirmed that, it just felt so… natural, 'What I saw… Ike… was that real? Was he really there?'_

'_...No,' he said gently, 'He wasn't, he died that night. You're the most paranoid person on the planet Lyra; you know the Capitol was messing with you. They've done this sort of things before in other games. All those things he said to you, he'd said them before and the Capitol recorded it. You remember those words. You remember hearing them. You just didn't have time to process it.'_

'_But what he said at the end...'_

_Toby hesitated as she said this seeming to nod a tad to acknowledge what she was already beginning to guess, 'That was all in your head I'm afraid… Lyra you'd been thinking all of those things since you lost him. It was only natural for you to picture those things-'_

'_Shut up. Why are you here Toby?' she hissed angrily_

_His emotional response seemed to rise to match hers as he retorted, 'Because both of us know I'm all you've got.'_

_She waited for him to continue in silence. He seemed surprised for a second to realise she wasn't going to dispute this. He was right; both of them knew it was true. With her obsession to get back to talk to Ike's family, her random muttering and screaming from the mountain… quite frankly they already would know exactly what he'd wanted to say to them if he got the chance. Toby was the last motivation she had, and she was grasping at any inclination to live that she had left._

_He took a deep breath as if letting the anger drain from his system, before saying very earnestly, 'I want you to hold onto your sanity just as much as you want to, maybe this is your minds way of helping you heal. Maybe this is your way to bring yourself back into reality… Lyra, we don't have long, you need to think of a plan. You need to figure out what you're going to do next,' Toby said, the yearning in his eyes all too clear._

'_I… I… I don't know what I'm going to do… After I attacked Astra… I don't… I don't know what I can do. Do I have a choice in what I do?'_

'_Lyra, please just think, use that brilliant mind of yours; think about what you know for certain. Who's still in the game? Where are they? And what does that mean for you?'_

'_Astra… Orion… Seir and Kali… Lilith… Greg… and someone else, someone I just don't remember… Astra's probably gone to find Orion… Greg's still in that clearing… Seir and Kali have stopped hunting… that might be because of what I did to his leg… Lilith… Lilith is...'_

'_Right nearby, you've been seeing the signs for days and ignoring them, but you know in your mind she's there,' he told her, and Lyra nodded, figment of her imagination or not, this Toby was certainly being helpful._

'_Okay… So Lilith… if necessary, I could take her down, probably… I think I could… maybe…. But Seir and Kali… if he's not injured, even if he is… I don't know if I could take both of them… They're too synched...'_

'_Which means you need help,' he told her, 'and who can you go to for help?'_

'_... I don't know… Astra was all I had and I turned on her...'_

'_Lyra don't think about who you want to go to. Don't think about that. Think about who won't kill you if you approach them about this. Lilith will not partner with you, Greg is too dangerous to be trusted; you can't access someone who you can't remember. You know who the only people you can turn to are.'_

'_Even if Astra forgives me, I will not work with Orion-'_

'_Lyra, it's not his fault Ike is dead, he was the weapon, not the murderer. It's my fault; it's the Capitol's fault. Not his. He was trying to protect you. You know that. Blame me if you must, but you have to survive, you have to try to make it… Please...'_

Lyra's severe denial forced her from her dreams, for years she would sleep and never remember the visions that had taken over her in that time. She knew every moment of that dream. She didn't know what had caused it, or why her brain had used Toby to do it, but this had to be the way her brain was trying to make her heal. Her survival instincts were in overdrive as she got to her feet, and began processing every moment that had overtaken her thoughts.

She knew dream Toby was right; Orion wouldn't kill her if she got too close to him. She didn't want to think about that, maybe she could find Astra first; maybe she could find her before she found Orion. Lyra knew she had to move quickly, she had to use this will to live while she still had it. She was about to run off into the trees before she hesitated for a moment and pulled a singled piece of paper from her pocket, staring at the handwriting dotted across the page.

**_The truth is I love her, I'm not sure how but I certainly do._**

That feeling of curiosity swarmed across her skin once more, and with a new determination in her steps she began to move forward. Still uncertain, yet still moving none the less. As she glanced up, she saw a face in the trees, Ike's face, staring down on her, with a small smile on his face, as if this had all been his doing. She felt her breath catch in shock, but at the same time the strain in her joints seemed to lessen. Telling herself it was a hallucination she continued along, but there was still so much she was uncertain of. So much more she had to do.

…

Orion lay in the snow, trying to wish himself into unconsciousness. All he could feel was pain. Burning pain; piercing and throbbing through his system. He couldn't think of anything else other than how much it hurt, about how much agony he was in. Tears squeezed out of his eyes, dripping onto the cold floor, not just from physical pain alone. There was something that hurt more than any form of torture and that was the knowledge that no one was coming for him. He was all by himself. Alone, to slowly have the life torn from his body, piece, by little piece.

It seemed that Greg had taken the torment up to a new level, taking him to the very edge and holding him there for as long as possible before dragging him back. Several times Orion was sure he had nearly died, but every time Greg had pulled him back, determined not to let the game end.

Now he just wanted it to be over. He was done fighting this. He just wanted Greg to let him die.

…

Astra walked carefully through the winding woods, keeping her eyes peeled for the tell-tale signs of traps. After she had activated a few traps on the way over and narrowly missed ending up hanging upside down from a tree, she was on high alert. She found herself thankful for Ike's lessons in the training centre, it may have been weeks ago yet it felt like a lifetime. She couldn't help but notice more and more traps that she had to avoid, they were getting closer and closer together as if making a very clear point that it was unwise to continue. However this sign only piped her curiosity, wondering internally if Orion had made it this far without stumbling into a trap.

As if to prove her wrong, she noticed a dippet in the ground up ahead and scurried over to investigate. Far from a little hole, it was more like a pit, too deep for anyone to get out of on their own. She didn't know how to explain it, but part of her knew that this was a sign of Orion passing through the area. A feeling of dread built in her stomach and she drew her short sword and began moving with the utmost care across the snow covered ground. Orion couldn't have possibly gotten out of their alone; someone else had to be here.

She couldn't see any sign of fresh tracks, so it would have had to have been a few hours at the least since he came through here. She wasn't expecting to see any sign of him for quite some time, but after a few minutes, she heard it. Originally she couldn't tell what it was, it sounded like a voice, although she didn't know quite what was going on. Bit by bit she crept closer, slowing down her steps, making sure she was careful not to be heard as she wound her way around traps. She almost threw caution to the wind as she got closer, recognising the tone she associated with Orion. When she heard a slight groan, she knew he was in a far from welcoming environment.

Her brain went into overdrive, as she tried to figure out what could be going on. Had Kali and Seir finally caught up to him and were making him suffer for betraying him? Was it Lilith? Lyra? Or a game makers trap that he had come across? Was it one of the spider mutts? She definitely hoped not. Trying to find some way to gage the situation, she clambered up a nearby tree and taking care she leapt to another, then another, getting closer and closer. Orion's moans were nearer, she knew he had to be in a significant amount of pain; she desperately wanted to help him. However, she needed to know what she was going up against first.

Her heart dropped into her stomach however as Orion or rather, what was left of him came into view. Blood stained the snowy ground, she couldn't make out a single inch of him not battered, bruised and sliced. Her lips quivered as she stared, not knowing who or what did this to him, or why anyone would. She wanted nothing more than to run to his side, help him in any way she could. When his attacker at last came into view a cold understanding swelled in her system.

Up in her tree she could still hear every word which was spoken, 'I have another game for you Orion.'

Weakly Orion raised his head, but upon recognition of his captor he curled tightly into a ball, covering his head, attempting to hide. Astra couldn't bare it. She had never seen him like this before; she had never seen him so defenceless. He just seemed so vulnerable, he was positively broken.

She could see Greg was holding something, but she was too far away to see exactly what. When he crouched and wrapped it Orion's neck, she got a good idea of what it was. Orion didn't seem able to react; he simply choked, twitching slightly. She could just see the beads of blood forming across his neck as Greg wound whatever it was tighter.

It was only a few seconds until Greg released him and Orion slumped back to the ground, curling up again. Wrapping the wire around his hand Greg sighed and looked down at Orion as if disappointed.

'Well, you're no fun anymore. I'll leave you be for a moment, I just need to ponder the best way to make your life end,' Greg started to walk away, 'oh, and when I come back, if you've moved from there, I'll know.'

Greg disappeared into the trees, winding his way through the traps. As soon as he was out of sight, Astra sprang down from her branch and sprinted to Orion's side, throwing herself to her knees next to him. The sheer amount of damage he had taken was heartbreaking and unbelievable, if she was to begin listing his injuries, she wouldn't know when to start. She shook him gently, trying to gage some response.

'Orion,' she whispered, 'Orion.'

His eyelids fluttered slightly, like he was trying to open them, but he didn't appear to have the strength left. She couldn't leave him like this; she had to get him as far away from here as she could before Greg came back.

'Come on, let's get you out of here,' she coaxed quietly, 'I'm not going to let him hurt you anymore.'

Orion seemed to respond slight, but he didn't have the energy to help himself. Slowly she slid his arm around her shoulders, and trying her best to balance him, she got back to her feet. He came up with her, but he wasn't able to stand, which made her almost drop him, unable to take his weight. She overbalanced slightly but readjusted her footing, determined to get him out of here, she wasn't going to leave him.

'Come on, walk,' she pleaded.

Instantly Orion's feet scrambled for the ground like he was terrified not to obey and his eyes flickered half open. She glanced down at his feet, only to see the gigantic blisters and scorch marks that covered them. Every inch of her wanted to stop and help him here, but it was too dangerous. He may have been in pain, and a lot of it, but she had to keep him moving.

Orion was little more than a dead weight on her shoulders, but her determination to keep him moving allowed them to get out of the little clearing. Orion would occasionally make a noise, a grunt of pain, a muttered word that sounded somewhat like a swear. Mostly he just fumbled for the ground, trying to push off it to simulate  
>some form of movement. It wasn't much, but it at least kept them moving. She knew it wouldn't last long though, the little strength he had was fading fast. Their progress was slow and every step was difficult, they had only made it a hundred meters away from the grove when Astra was forced to stop. Though it wasn't because Orion's strength had faded, something far more sinister had reappeared.<p>

'The insect should never venture into the spiders nest unless they're sure the spider won't return.'

A sick feeling gathered in her stomach, Greg had returned much faster than she thought. It couldn't have been hard to follow her, with the rivulets of blood still dripping off Orion and the scuff marks all along the ground from where she'd been practically dragging him. Knowing that she had to confront Greg, she put Orion down with as much care as she could, before turning to face the monster who had dared to do this.

'I won't let you hurt him,' she said simply, staring him down as the wind picked up, billowing her blonde hair around her face.

'I don't think you have a choice Miss Vee,' Greg said calmly, 'Sure you could outrun me, or out climb me. But your little friend doesn't seem to be in the condition to do any of that. And you can't do anything lugging around a hunk of meat.'

'How could you do this to him?' she hissed, 'How can you justify doing this to anyone?'

'My justification is that I enjoy it, and this sort of thing is exactly what I have in common with the Capitol. A love for blood,' he sneered.

Astra felt the icy sincerity in his tone, which unnerved her but also made her angrier, 'I don't think the Capitol has been enjoying it as much as you think they have.'

'Well they haven't stopped me,' he said simply.

'Why else do you think I'm here?' Astra retorted, the anger building in her system as she drew her short sword.

'Well I think they've delivered me another little playmate, Orion was getting boring,' Greg stepped a little closer, 'and you are much more of a shrieker. So be a dear and decide if you're either going to run and leave Orion's fate to me, or be foolish and try to stop me.'

Resolving not to run, Astra took up the fighting stance Orion had taught her and raised her sword, standing between Greg and Orion's crumpled form. She wasn't sure how far she was willing to go, or how well she would do in a one on one fight, but she knew that she wasn't going to let Greg go anywhere near Orion while she was still standing.

Looking like Christmas had come early, Greg charged. His brute strength was too much for her as he slammed against her arm, sending her weapon flying. They went sprawling to the ground, him attempting to lock his hands around her throat. She wriggled and kicked, one hand pressed against his face, her fingers gouging into his eyes. Unable to see he attempted to rip her hand away from his face, locking both her wrists in one of his meaty fists. With a snarl Astra head butted him forcefully, a trick she'd learnt from the annoying calves she had raised back in District 10.

Using the distraction this bought her, she wriggled out from under him, and attempted to make a break for her weapon. Greg was up too quickly though and he tackled her down again before she could reach it. On instinct her hand flew out, trying to grip the handle of her weapon. Her fingers closed around something and without stopping to think she swung it around into Greg's head. He recoiled and she kicked him away, rolling on top of him. Lashing out for her throat, Greg attempted to push her off, but she slammed him in the head again with the rock she had picked up. She hit him again and again until suddenly she heard the distinctive boom of a cannon.

She froze,instantly looking to Orion, only to see him still quivering in the snow. Frowning, she looked over at the rock in her hand, still raised to strike and saw the thick, syrupy blood dripping from its surface. Greg lay underneath her, the side of his head caved in, his face a mess of blood. Numbly she placed the stone down and stood grabbing the sword which lay only a few feet away and sheathing it.

Moving back to Orion's side, she levered him onto her shoulders again, 'come on, let's get you out of here.'


	38. Desperate Tenacity

**What's this?! A third update within one month?! Quick! Someone alert the press!**

_It is a miracle! How is this possible?_

**I don't know! But our levels of procrastination leading up to the exams have never been higher! Two months people, then all the Forbidden Year we can write!**

_It will be fun! We are both looking forward to it!_

**We just have this awkward, stressful bit in the middle. But reviews make our hearts glow, so as always, let's take a moment to thank our reviewers, who apparently don't hate us!**

**Dauntless Duck: Hello little duck, we're really glad you enjoy it so much and we love hearing how positive you are about it every time! We're so glad you hold our story in such high esteem, and can't wait to see what you think of this next twist!**

_Green Poke Guy: Glad to hear from you again my friend! Quite a few people are celebrating the demise of Greg. Remember, watch out for the sweet ones! Perhaps the three will be reunited soon; we shall see soon I'm sure! Wonderful to hear from you again, hopefully you enjoy this chapter just as much. _

**LyzeeAnne: Oh Astra's certainly picking up the pace now, she's in full on action mode. And it unfortunately does seem to be heading that way with Orion. That is one hell of a theory, a very interesting one indeed! Glad you're sticking with us, stay tuned for all the answers are soon to come.**

_Orion Ehra: Technicalities, technicalities, who needs them. Well, everyone I suppose, but eh. Where did Astra get the sword? I believe we mentioned many chapters ago that she retrieved it from one of the dead tributes, I'm not sure if you remember Ike from District 7? But if she'd impaled him to start with then we couldn't have her embracing her inner psychopath and crushing Greg's skull, which was far more exciting! The games do strange things to people heads. We too join you in your eulogy for Greg. He shall be missed dearly by us as well. Farewell my friend, I'm sure we shall meet again soon. _

**kat-rue: Hold onto that pride honey, because Astra's determined to make it through! We take that comment about Greg as a very serious compliment! You never know what we'll do, you never know what twists may occur, so stay tuned in and let us know what you think of the newest chapter of Forbidden Year**

_Once again, thank you to everyone who reviewed! _

**Your support is 100% amazing, and we hope we can hear from all of you and some more of you readers once you discover the twists and turns of this newest chapter.**

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**~Selina**

_:) Ally_

**Chapter Thirty Eight: Desperate Tenacity**

In the centre of the Capitol, the head of the Gamemakers was staring in shock as his subordinates extracted the corpse of Greg Bierman from the arena. They'd had to wait some time as the girl from District Ten dragged the Ehra boy away. He had never expected that the girl would so quickly turn to murder. She had always been the innocent type in his eyes, but then again he had seen more delicate people turn under the pressure of the games. That's what he'd always enjoyed about the Hunger Games, it made it very clear who people were under their facades.

Shortly behind the beheadings and torture, he accepted that this latest kill was among the most violent this year. It had never been intended to be an outright murder though. In truth he had rather hoped that Greg and Astra would kill each other and the Ehra boy would just end up bleeding out. That way they would be down to a pool of five tributes, and he draw out tributes and force matches between them at a whim.

But no, it hadn't gone to plan but in a very interesting way. He'd seen the look on the girl's face as she stared at the stone in her hand, the one that had become her murder weapon. She was no longer the weakest link in the games, though who it was now he wasn't too sure. Underestimating her audacity would not do him well in the future, and he would ensure he remembered that.

...

Sliding down the sloping tunnel into her burrow was a great relief for Astra as she pulled Orion after her. He had lost consciousness a while back, leaving Astra to drag him over the last two kilometers, which had taken over an hour in the icy rain.

Resting him gently down on a pile of blankets, she wrapped him tightly to try to warm him up. His skin was freezing under her fingertips, and she had no doubt if he'd had the strength, he'd be shivering. Dragging him for so long through the rain had washed him clean of most of the blood and muck. It did nothing to relieve her worry now that she could see the full extent of his injuries.

Carefully she pulled away the edge of his ragged shirt to see the deep slices across his skin, some were still leaking blood, others had scabbed over and some had no doubt been cauterized. Her throat tightened, tears threatened to spill onto her cheeks as she studied his battered body. Wrenching her eyes away from the cuts she looked at his face, brushing his saturated hair off his brow. Her fingers floated over the raw, red cuts in his cheek, her nose wrinkling in disgust as she recognised the District One symbol carved into his skin.

She wrapped him in a few more blankets before dragging over one of the packs she had scavenged from the cornucopia and the other tributes which rested in a pile close to the wall of her burrow. Despite the numbness of fingers, she rummaged through the pack, pulling out the various articles inside it. She desperately hoped that at least one of them would have a medical kit.

There wasn't one in the first, nor in the second or in the third. Desperately she opened the final pack in her cave, her heart thudding loudly in her chest as she hoped in vain that she would find what she needed. Her stomach knotted upon the dark realisation, and in pure frustration she kicked the pack roughly away into the wall with a loud thud. She buried her head in her hands, gripping her wet hair tightly.

She looked up as Orion mumbled something incoherent, moaning softly. Sliding back to his side she took his bloody, shaking hand in hers and rubbed his cold fingers. Under her fingertips she felt his fluttering, weak pulse. Her eyes closed, feeling the prick of tears behind her lids.

Still clutching his hand in both of hers she sucked in a shuddering breath. He wouldn't last much longer if she couldn't find a medical kit but she hadn't dragged him all the way back from that monsters lair just to let him die now. Leaning against the wall beside him, her brow furrowed in thought.

Perhaps Joel could send her one, or maybe one of Orion's mentors. However funding such a thing took time. And given Orion's current state, it was time he didn't have. She had to move quickly, if she wanted to save Orion, she had to find another tribute.

She ruled out Kali and Seir at once. Even if they had a medical kit, there was no way she could go up against the pair of them, no matter how injured Seir was. There would be one on watch at all times, she couldn't get in there without being noticed, and there was no way she could help Orion if she was dead.

Lyra was a possible option, if she could find her. Astra already knew that she didn't possess the ability to convince Lyra to help her. No doubt Lyra would sooner kill Orion than give Astra the equipment she needed to save him. Throw in her uncertainty that Lyra even had a kit… it wasn't exactly ideal.

Pursing her lips, Astra thought about the others who were left. The only other person who sprang to mind was Lilith.

Sitting up a little straighter Astra began to weigh up the possibilities and probabilities of success. The career tributes almost always had a set of medical supplies. If Lilith had a medical kit and if she was nearby then she was a decent option. True she was lethal with a spear and was a far more experienced fighter than Astra was, but she was alone. That meant that there was no one watching her back, especially when she slept. If Astra played it right, then Lilith would never know she was there.

Looking down at Orion, she lightly brushed her fingers across his cheek, nodding to herself as she made up her mind. Moving quickly she made sure that he was comfortable and warm, before she picked up her short sword from where it lay near the entrance to the cave and sheathed it. Carefully she kissed him on the brow.

'Just hang tight Orion,' she whispered, 'I'll be back soon.'

She emerged from the cave into the lightly drizzling rain, her nerves dulled by a sense of determination. One hand resting on the handle of her sword she took a deep breath, glancing around her before setting off at a jog into the snowy forest.

…

Astra couldn't believe how easy it had been to find Lilith once she started looking. She must have been nearby for days and they'd never come across her. Probably sheer dumb luck or maybe Lilith had been tracking them. Then again, the girl from District Four had always seemed too lazy to put a huge effort into hunting anyone. It was possible that now she was by herself she was putting a bit more effort into tracking. She might also have been trying to put more distance between herself and Kali and Seir. Either way Lilith was not conscious enough to confirm any of Astra's drifting thoughts.

From where she was crouched several feet away, Astra could just see Lilith curled tightly into the base of hollow tree, apparently taking shelter from the constant rain. Edging closer, she could see that Lilith's hand was resting just next to her spear and her pack was tucked tightly in behind her. She gulped knowing how dangerous this was, but the chance to save Orion was something she was unwilling to give up.

She inched forward and stealthily pulled Lilith's sleeve until she touched the wet grass. She didn't wake, but she made a disgusted sound and rolled over, releasing the pack as she turned. Unable to believe that it had actually worked, Astra slowly shimmied into the hollow so she could reach the pack. Glancing up at Lilith every two seconds she unclasped the pack, hardly daring to breathe as she began to gingerly look through the contents. There wasn't much, a water bottle, some packets of dried food which rustled horribly as she moved them, a spare blanket and a small cooking pot. Not willing to give up her search so easily, she shifted the pack so she could check in the side compartments, only to find a flashlight and a flint.

Her disappointment swelled in her chest and she sighed deeply, hanging her head. A sudden thwack against her legs knocked her over, the handle of Lilith's spear had suddenly slammed itself into her legs sending Astra scrambling backwards into the rain. Lilith stood in one fluid movement, almost too awake as she paced her way out of the hollow and into the clearing. Her eyes bored into Astra's skull as she simply said:

'What do you think you're doing?'

'Leaving,' Astra squeaked, before scrambling to her feet and attempting to sprint into the woods.

Lilith just cleared her throat, 'How far do you think you can run before this hits you?' she mused.

Astra slowly turned back, barely ten paces away, she knew Lilith was right. A superior smile had come across Lilith's face as her saturated brunette locks clung to her face. Lightning ripped through the sky, causing her to look up, the sinister light reflecting in her eyes.

'I could just throw it, but how boring would that be?' she told Astra, laughing softly, 'They do love the lightning filled battle to the death now don't they? It must have pulled it at least a dozen times in the last couple of years.'

'...If you aren't going to throw your spear can I just go?' Astra asked hopefully.

Lilith just smirked, flicking a wet strand of hair out of her eyes, 'I said I wasn't going to throw it, not that I wasn't going to kill you,' and with that said Lilith was on her.

Acting on instinct Astra threw herself out of the way, stumbling back and managing to draw her short sword. The rain was falling heavier now and the lightning strikes more often and brighter. Still smiling softly Lilith turned to face her and lunged forward again, using the end of her spear to knock Astra's sword to the side. The spear rotated rapidly, cracking Astra in the side of the head, blurring her vision in an instant. Stumbling Astra tried to tackle her, to do something at the very least. Lilith just danced out of her way and brought her spear down on the back of Astra's shins and knocked her to the ground.

Astra was still in shock when Lilith paused long enough to let her get up, but a sick feeling pounded through her system as she realised something. Lilith was just playing with her; she was giving the Capitol their show. Panting and blinking water from her eyes, Astra watched as Lilith circled her laboriously, her spear held lazily at her side. In a quick succession Lilith struck her in the ribs, her head and her arms when she raised them to defend herself. She then roughly kicked her in the stomach sending her sprawling back to the ground, splashing into a puddle.

Astra desperately tried to regain her breath, to get to her feet, but her brain was telling her it was hopeless. It was one thing to fight Greg; he was just as an inexperienced fighter as she was. It was another thing entirely to face someone trained in combat, and Lilith was an expert. This time Lilith didn't allow her to get up, kicking her down before forcing her spear through Astra's shoulder blade. Very deliberately she had missed her heart, still playing this sick little game of hers, wrenching it clear as Astra screamed in agony.

Curled on the ground, sobbing, and clutching her shoulder, Astra watched Lilith's boots circle her a few times before she was kicked roughly in the stomach. She could hear Lilith laughing as the shaft of the spear smashed into her time and time again. The girl quickly grew bored of her taunting, and placed her foot directly into the gaping wound of the spear, causing Astra to scream in pain.

'Well it was fun while it lasted little butterfly, don't worry, it won't hurt for much longer,' Lilith sighed.

Astra stared upwards in horror as Lilith brought her spear up again, the point hovering dangerously above her head. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye she couldn't see Lilith anymore, all she could hear was screaming. Hazily, Astra looked in the direction of the screams, and through the rain and her slightly blurred vision she could just make out Lilith on the ground a few meters away being pinned by … Lyra.

Her fists flailing, Lyra was striking again and again, but Lilith was not staying down. She may have been disarmed from Lyra's sudden attack, but that didn't mean she couldn't fight. Both girls were engaged in a constant flurry of kicks and punches, doing anything humanly possible to keep the other down. Lilith managed to claw Lyra across the face at the same time that Lyra ripped out a handful of her hair. For a long moment it seemed that they were evenly matched, but after a minute or two, Lilith began to gain ground.

Astra's vision was still hazy as she crawled to her feet, trying to steady herself enough to do something. However the frenzied fight was out of her league, as Lyra kicked Lilith in the head and Lilith retaliated by elbowing her hard enough to crack ribs. Distracted for mere moments, Lyra was thrown to the ground, where she and Lilith wrestled, trying to gain control. Lilith pinned her down, hands wrapped around her throat as she spat out blood and began to apply pressure. Lyra managed to get her leg loose, kneeing her violently in the chest and flipped it around till she was on top of Lilith. There was little Lyra had the strength to do other than keep her there as Lilith struggled to get loose, eventually pulling her arm free.

Reaching into Lyra's belt, Lilith pulled out one of the knives before she could be stopped. Then, the split second before she could have ended the fight right there, a sickening squelching noise rang out, followed by a sinister crack. Lilith convulsed violently, her arm dropping, entire body growing limp. Cannon fire ricocheted through the arena, the rain evaporating from the air. Very slowly, Lyra looked around, not understanding quite what had happened. The realisation hit her as she saw Astra standing a foot or two behind her, Lilith's own spear clutched in her hand, dripping blood onto the ground.


	39. Time to Choose

**Chapter Thirty Nine: Time to Choose**

Breathing heavily Lyra slowly stood, peeling herself away from Lilith's corpse. As she stood she remained on guard, not sure what to expect from this new Astra that was standing in front of her. She had not expected Astra to result to such violent means.

But Astra simply released a deep sigh, and threw the spear away, where it splashed into a puddle a few feet from Lilith's body. Then, saying nothing, she turned and walked away, seemingly numb to what she had just done.

Blinking rapidly, Lyra watched her hesitantly, before snatching up the spear and running after her. She caught up quickly, 'oi, Princess, what do you think you're doing?'

Astra turned and gazed up at Lyra with dead eyes, 'what? What do you want now? To fight? To kill me? Is that what this is? Is that why you're here?'

'I was talking about you leaving behind a perfectly good weapon, which as it turns out, you know how to use pretty well.'

'It doesn't take a genius to know where to put the pointy end of a spear,' Astra said coldly, glaring at the bloody spear in Lyra's hand.

The chill of Astra's voice caught Lyra off guard, as she shifted uncomfortably, 'what changed? You're different, something must have happened.'

Astra snorted, looking away from Lyra, 'so you throwing a knife at my head isn't enough?'

Shaking her head wildly at the accusation, Lyra quickly said, 'no, no, you know I didn't mean that. This is about Orion, isn't it? It's always about Orion.'

This time Astra looked mildly amused, 'you think I can't exist without him? Don't you think I have my own motives, my own reasons. I'm capable of doing things without him, and without you. Sure you may have stepped in for me there, but I didn't have to help you. In fact, I contemplated walking away. You and Lilith would have killed each other. She wasn't going to stab you fatally, she wanted you to linger. And you would have made sure that your last action would have been to kill her. Don't make me regret saving you. I didn't have to.'

Every phrase, every word came out coldly and precisely. Spat out piece by piece as Astra's eyes grew darker and darker. Lyra's entire body had grown tense, knowing something in Astra had snapped, and whatever it was was purely unnerving. She licked her lips slightly, before suddenly turning the spear around and passing it shaft first to Astra, the point dangerously close to her own chest.

'Don't underestimate what a weapon could do for you,' Lyra said, fixated on Astra, 'You never know who you'll decide to kill.'

Her words left an unspoken challenge lingering in the air, Astra stared at Lyra knowing how easy it was being made for her. It was a test that Lyra fully intended to bet her life on. But Astra just fitted the spear into the straps of her bag and walked away silently. She didn't say a word, she didn't look back. Lyra could have taken her down easily, a knife thrown across this distance would have stuck quite easily. Instead she moved after Astra, having to jog to keep up with her, trying to catch her attention when the younger girl whipped around.

'Stop it. If you think we're allies again you're sorely mistaken. You need to leave me alone for both of our sakes. Get out of here Lyra just… leave me alone.'

A slight touch of sadness had entered Astra's voice, and it was that which stopped Lyra in her tracks. Everything that once linked them was falling apart. Astra no longer needed Lyra to protect her and Lyra could no longer use her to keep the nightmares away. Neither of them had it in them anymore to allow themselves to be protected. Neither of them wanted to rely on the other. It would just hurt too much.

…

The perpetual downpour of rain continued as it had for hours. The remaining tributes of the Seventy Third Hunger Game had never predicted they'd miss snow, but ever since this torrential weather had started, they'd have preferred it. At the opening to a cave on the mountain side, the pair from District Two sat, shivering. Their hair clung to their faces, their shoes soden and their clothes drenched. Kali had been forced to drag Seir most of the way here, his nausea causing him to black out occasionally while moving.

Kali stared at Seir's collapsed form, sprawled across the cave floor, she hadn't bothered to do much else rather than dump him under cover. He was slowing her down, he was half dead, she should have abandoned him days ago. It was stupid and against everything she'd been trained to do, to keep him around when he was such deadweight. She had known within hours of the career split that this was a bad move tactically to stick with him. Shimmer had the only medical supplies and the infection in Seir's leg had essentially crippled him. He was useless to her.

She had a three options, each of which didn't sound desirable in the slightest. She could kill him and get it over with, put the idiot out of his misery, besides she'd have to kill him eventually. She could abandon him, he wouldn't last long without her, but if he recovered the first thing he'd do was go after her and kill her for her betrayal. Or she could just stick around and wait him out, he would be gone soon enough. She had only been given a handful of bandages to work with, and she'd never bothered with the herbal healing aspect of their training. She knew the basics of what was edible, but she'd always been told that as a career, all she'd have to do is make sure she secured all the packs at the beginning of the game. If she needed something, then all she had to do was jam up the ratings in her favour and she'd get it. But she didn't know what that thing was.

She looked at the knives strapped to her side, quirking an eyebrow, it was the safest option but suddenly the trumpets blared and she froze to move outside. The rain stopped momentarily, the clouds pulled back across the sky for just long enough to show the projection. Taking a moment to wonder who was dead this time, she considered the options, but nothing could have prepared her for what she saw. Lillith's face stretching across the sky, emblazoned in front of the symbol of District Four. She blinked rapidly, hardly able to comprehend this as yet another image replaced Lilith's. She only knew him as the boy from District Eight, but he was dead as well. Fear shot through Kali's chest and as the projection faded and the rain pelted down on her once again, she bolted inside.

'Seir!' she yelled, kicking him in the stomach, 'Get up! Get up now!'

Seir woke suddenly, and he managed to sit up, but clearly the action made his head spin as he sounded delirious, 'What's happening? Who's there?' he demanded.

'More like who's dead!' Kali snapped, 'We have a career killer on the loose Seir. We have a major problem.'

'What?' Seir asked, his dilated pupils trying to recapture his stern and calculating look.

'Shimmer, two days ago. And now Lilith, plus that kid from eight. We went a long time without deaths Seir, now all of a sudden we get three? Someone's starting to kill, and I'm getting a very distinct feeling that we're not dealing with Orion here. Seven the psycho probably. But it could be-'

'Why would they show their hand now? We haven't seen them the whole games, why would they risk coming out of hiding now?' Seir reminded, clearly forcing his brain to work.

'Because we're getting down to the last few. The Gamemaker's have probably started setting up showdowns or flooded wherever they were hiding. There are six of us Seir… Actually more like four. Because Ten can't be considered a threat and right now, neither can you,' she hissed infuriated, 'I should just abandon you now, or just kill you, there's not much you can do to stop me.'

'And what are you going to do against this new threat?' Seir said, his tone becoming deadly, 'You said it yourself, a career killer, especially one emerging this late in the games, is a very dangerous problem. You can fight Kali, that's true, you can take out a child, I have no problem admitting in this condition you could take out me. But what about everyone else in this arena? Are you willing to bet you can take down them?'

Kali glowered at him, her teeth bared in a snarl, 'I can take them down.'

'Are you sure? I don't know if you could even last long enough to find all of them. We're running out of food and iodine and the terrain is getting more deadly by the minute. Orion is possibly the most competent swordsman the games has ever seen, four victors in the family gives him that edge. You can't take him unless you get very, very lucky. Maybe you could take Franklin, but without me, especially if they're allied now. You can't take them down without me-'

Seir's eyes had becoming progressively more hazy, and all at once he passed out suddenly and all she could do was glare furiously. She kicked him forcefully, but he didn't stir and she angrily began pacing up and down this cave. She didn't believe his words for a second, but she had to be careful, it was time to think of a new strategy.

...

Orion floated, semi aware of the darkness surrounding him, enveloping him in warm tendrils like a thick, black blanket. The world was warm and calm, without a single sound. His body felt numb and pain free, and the gnawing cold which had been leaking into his bones since they had first entered the arena was gone.

Sleepily he opened his eyes when the silence was disrupted by a voice. But instead of shattering the peace into a million tiny pieces, it just seemed to add to it, making his drowsiness increase. His eyes closed again and he relaxed, sinking a little further into the deep, welcoming dark as he listened to the sweet song echoing around him.

Suddenly, the voice hesitated, stopping and his eyes snapped open as it got quieter, as if it was moving away from him. He forced his unwilling body to cooperate and he moved to follow the voice.

As much as the darkness was welcoming and he wanted nothing more than to just go to sleep he didn't want the angel to leave. So, ignoring the darkness's pull entirely, he followed her voice.

…

The temptation had been to much for her to bare, Astra's new aggression had been too out of place, so Lyra truly felt like she had no choice but to follow her. Not too long after they'd seperated Astra had started running, winding her way through the trees. She definitely seemed to know exactly where she was going, so Lyra had jumped tree top to tree top ensuring that she found out just where. If she hadn't seen Astra slither into her little burrow, she never would have known it was there, hidden beneath the shrubbery.

The rain had started up again in a torrential downpour, it seemed almost as if the gamemakers had become bored with snow. She was drenched to the core but she still remained near the entrance to the burrow, listening carefully. She'd heard a few short sobs, but they didn't continue for too long. Astra began to speak to someone earnestly, filled with emotion. Lyra was forced to lie on the ground, getting her ear as close to the entrance as possible to make it out over the howling wind.

'I'm so sorry, I tried, I really did. But no one's sent me help, and I couldn't find it myself. I'm so sorry, I wish I could help you, but I can't. I can't, not anymore. There's nothing left I can do… I don't even know if you can hear me. For all I know you're too far gone for that… I am so sorry Orion, I'm so sorry you have to die like this.'

Lyra raised an eyebrow, highly confused, for a second a cartoonish image of Astra accidentally hurting Orion entered her head. Him sneaking up on her to surprise her quite cheerfully, only for her to freak out spin around and almost cutting him in half. She shook her head, declining the scenario, trying to figure out what could have actually happened. Because she knew that didn't. She chewed her lip thoughtfully, but paused as she heard Astra's voice again, but she was no longer speaking, she was singing.

'Hush-a-bye my little one, you won't feel any pain, a little fall of rain, can hardly hurt you now.'

Lyra frowned heavily, a dark look overcoming her features, it was almost as if Astra was trying to make her feel guilty. She sighed in exasperation, one side of her brain telling her to just leave already. But the other side which sounded annoyingly like Toby, was trying to get er to enter the burrow, and at the very least find out if she could do anything to help.

'I'm here… And I will keep you safe, and I will keep you close...'

Astra's voice was getting shakier and shakier, her lullaby struggling to keep its tune as grief seemed to overwhelm her. And it was then a single tear slid down Lyra's face, her teeth were gritted in rage and something in her seemed to burst. Losing Orion would do to Astra what losing Ike had done to her. Except there was one critical difference, Astra had always been a better person than her, and she cared about Orion in a different way than she had cared for Ike. This wouldn't just hurt her, this would destroy her.

'I will stay with you until you're sleeping… And rain will make the flowers… grow.'

She closed her eyes for a long moment before blindly fumbling for the entrance to the burrow and sliding inside. She could hear Astra gasping,no doubt reaching for a weapon, determined to keep her away. But that was when Lyra saw Orion, or rather what was left of him and her heart seemed to stop beating for a second.

'Holy shit. What the hell happened to him?... And who didn't invite me to watch?'

Astra was on her knees, Orion's head in her lap, the spear still smeared with blood directed at Lyra, 'What are you doing here? I will not let you taint his memory. Get out. He's been through enough. Just let him die in peace.'

But with little to no care about Astra's half hearted threat, Lyra threw her pack at Astra's head. Narrowly missing being skewered on the spear, Astra put the pack down, eyes twitching with rage. Lyra's face wasn't giving anything away, she just looked at Orion, examining him coldly.

'Get out!' Astra screeched.

'Open the pack idiot.'

Astra didn't move making Lyra roll her eyes and pull her pack towards her, 'Fine I'll open the pack.'

Very calmly she began pulling out the small orange bags and flinging them back towards Astra. Five or six of them in total, making Astra blink rapidly completely baffled.

'What are you doing?'

'Well I figured there had some reason why you of all people would go after Lilith. You were looking for one of these.'

'I… I… you… What?!'

'I know right! Who's idea was it to give the psycho all of the medical packs. It's almost like they're asking me to start experimenting on my victims. But eh, that's too gross… and time consuming.'

'I… I don't understand,' Astra said very plainly, 'Is this some kind of joke? Because I'm not laughing.'

Lyra just gave a long suffering sigh and a half smile, 'Come on sweetie, let's save your boyfriend.'


	40. Honest Confessions

**Chapter Forty: Honest Confessions**

Astra stared at Lyra in a mix of shock and wariness. She could hardly process what had just been said but the six medical kits in front of her seemed to be proof of her sincerity. Lyra blinked back at her, seeming patient, now on her knees to avoid the low ceiling, perfectly innocent.

'Save him?' Astra whispered, before she forced her voice to take on a new tone of authority as she demanded, 'Why would you want to save him? You hate him. You want him dead.'

'Yes.'

Lyra's response was so simple that it caught Astra off guard once more, she wasn't even bothering to lie, 'So you want to save him so you can be the one to kill him then?'

'No.'

'Then why? What could you possibly have to gain by saving him?'

Lyra returned her gaze evenly before saying near mechanically, 'You might want to start before it's too late Sweetie.'

'I need to know why,' Astra insisted, 'Because if you're planning on saving him now, just to put him through more pain later, then I won't do it. What are you up to?'

'A thought occurred to me not too long ago,' Lyra informed her beginning to unpack one of the medical bags, 'Truth be told it's as simple as this: I can't get out of this arena on my own. And I'm not going to let someone who doesn't deserve to be the one to survive. Which means I need take down Kali and Seir. I can't do both. So I need him.'

Sitting in silence for a moment, Astra pondered this very honest confession, her eyes never leaving Lyra's. She seemed sincere enough, and it was somewhat logical. Lyra wanted Orion dead, that was definitely true. But she also undoubtedly wanted Kali and Seir dead as well, and neither of them would help her take out the other two. It was a numbers game to her, and Orion was the only factor which fit properly into her equation.

Finally, Astra nodded and reached out to take one of the medical packs, 'okay. Help me save him Lyra.'

'I'll try,' she said simply, 'But just take a look at him Astra. With the state he's in… both of our efforts may not be enough.'

…

It had been several hours when Astra sat back on her feet and surveyed her and Lyra's work. Even with two of them it was taking a long time to get anywhere. It almost seemed that whenever they had dealt with one wound another would appear almost immediately.

Not too far away, Lyra was still hard at work, her brow furrowed deeply as she applied a layer of antiseptic to the ugly burns on Orion's feet. They had barely spoken for the last little while, mostly just requests to pass another roll of bandages or a cleaning swab. Throughout most of the treatment, rather rough treatment when it came to Lyra, Orion had hardly stirred. His only reaction had come from their efforts to close off the deeper wounds on his torso. She and Lyra had realised, unwillingly in Astra's case, Lyra's not so much, that the only way to stop the bleeding would to be to cauterise them. As the heat fused his flesh together he had instantly reacted, groaning and struggling, desperately trying to move away, even yelping once or twice. The very sight chilled Astra to the core, and the guilt had set in when she found evidence that Greg had done the same thing. But it was the only way to save him, it was the only way she could help Orion, so she'd been forced to hold him down and murmur to him as soothingly as she could as Lyra seared his wounds closed.

Now he was still, only twitching slightly if Astra pulled too much on the stitches. He looked a little better now they had cleaned away the rest of the blood, but he was still so pale. The dull light from the lantern made him appear almost ghostly. Quite frankly it scared her.

Shaking the thought away she returned to gently stitching one of the wounds on his arm. Right then she was grateful for all the experience she had had in District Ten, caring for the animals, learning how to stitch and bandage and splint. It meant that her hands were steady as she cared for Orion, the experience and muscle memory taking over from emotions.

As she looped off the final stitch, Orion hissed softly, stiffening for a brief moment before relaxing once again. Lyra looked up briefly from where she was finishing off bandaging his feet.

'Did he wake up?'

'Not really,' Astra admitted, before glancing at the shallow cuts on Orion's face arranged to depict the symbol of District One, 'Can I have a gauze?'

Lyra passed it to her but seemed to be watching her carefully, and after a long moment she asked, 'So… have you admitted it to yourself yet?'

'Admitted what?' Astra didn't look up from where she was gently cleaning the cuts on his face.

'The real reason why you're helping Orion,' Lyra said simply, 'Because we both know it's not because you feel like you owe him. It's never been that.'

Astra's eyes narrowed slightly, 'Would you mind having a look at that cut on his thigh?'

'It'll be my pleasure,' Lyra replied simply, moving closer to Orion and beginning to swab away the dried blood, 'But you can't avoid the question Astra.'

'What makes you think that it's anything other than that?' Astra retorted lightly.

She cut off when Orion's eyes snapped open and a pained gasp escaped his lips. Lyra pulled away from where she was cleaning out the wound quickly. Without stopping to think, Astra rested one of her hands on Orion's brow and gently hushed him.

'Shh, Orion, easy, it's just me,' she said softly, 'it's just me. No one's going to hurt you.'

It seemed that just the sound of her voice was enough for Orion as he relaxed, eyes sliding shut once again. Once his breathing evened out again, Lyra went back to work, but Astra remained brushing back his hair soothingly for a few moments until she was sure that he was deeply asleep.

When she turned to pick up the cleaning cloth which she had discarded, she caught Lyra's eye, 'what?'

'That's what makes me think that it's something other than you thinking that you owe him,' Lyra said with a shrug, pulling out a spool of thread so she could stitch the wound.

'What? Because I'm nice to him?' Astra asked, 'You know people can do that without an ulterior motive.'

'Aware,' Lyra shrugged, before sighing and saying, 'Should have known you haven't figured it out. Denial is probably easier than facing it I suppose under the circumstances.'

'Excuse me?' Astra asked sharply, trying to contain a strange feeling of anger that she couldn't explain.

'I mean if one or both of you is going to die it does make sense. Save whoever survives the pain of knowing what might have been.'

'I don't know what you're talking about,' Astra hissed, but regretted raising her voice as Orion's eyelids fluttered ever so slightly.

Lyra rolled her eyes as she watched Astra instantly turn to Orion in concern, 'How? I think everyone saw it from the beginning, I certainly did.'

'Saw what?' Astra asked, desperate to control her anger to the point that it was strangling her voice.

'How in love with him you are' Lyra stated forcefully.

Astra blinked rapidly but when she failed to say anything Lyra continued, 'After all he's done; you still care about him and desperately want to save him. He murdered your district partner, you saw what him killing Ike did to me, you watched as time and time again he refused to leave the career pack and stay with you. Yet here you are right now, patching him up after having murdered two people just to keep him safe. If you didn't love him, then there is no way you would forgive so much, care so much or do so much just for his sake.'

Something about the way she had said it caused hot, angry tears to leak from Astra's eyes as she stared Lyra down. The other girl was looking at her so plainly, so matter-of-factly that it was just infuriating. She couldn't see that she had crossed a line with what she said as she very calmly broke eye contact with Astra and went back to stitching up another of Orion's wounds. She hadn't needed to say it, and Astra didn't have to respond, but she felt like she needed to. She couldn't just let Lyra get away with saying things like this with no concern for her feelings.

'So what if I love him?' she spat out, 'What would it even matter? We're in the Hunger Games for crying out loud. Only one person leaves this arena. Everyone else dies. Within the next few days one or both of us is going to be dead. It's how it is, it's how it's always going to be. It doesn't matter how I feel about Orion or how he feels about me. Because there is nothing either of us can do about the circumstances we're in. So maybe I am in love with him, but maybe that's better left unsaid. And here's something you haven't processed Lyra, maybe I am aware of exactly how I feel towards Orion and I haven't told him because it hurts too much to think, let alone say.'

Lyra stared at her for a very long moment, her face contorting with a thousand emotions melded into one. She slowly turned away from Astra unable to meet her gaze as she just continued to tend to Orion's wounds. Fury still bubbling inside her Astra turned away from Lyra, and began dabbing antiseptic on a partially open wound, her hand slowly reaching out to grip Orion's. She didn't know if that was for his comfort or her own. The silence continued for a long stretch of time, until a beeping nearby caught Lyra's attention and she crawled to the entrance of the burrow before retrieving a silver parachute, turning back to Astra and smirking as the look of betrayal spread across the other girl's features.

'Burn salve _and_ painkillers huh? Jackpot.'

…

When Seneca Crane entered the victors lounge the reaction was instantaneous, one by one they shut up and turned to look at him. Those who had no shame in it glared at him quite openly, those who thought it would be better to stay on the Capitol's good side smiled at him, but most just seemed fairly blank, if only a little suspicious. Those who still had tributes left in the arena seemed the  
>most concerned about his arrival, this usually meant some sort of rule change, or that one of them was in trouble for an item they'd sent to their tributes. But the last time he was down here he'd announced that their tributes would be getting messages from home. So they couldn't help but wonder if things were about to get interesting.<p>

'If the mentors could sit with me for a moment, we have a matter to discuss.'

Enobaria and Brutus were the first to approach Seneca, both welcoming the Head Game Maker warmly. To say they were desperate for him to change something to benefit them was an understatement. With Seir injured and Kali appearing unwilling to leave him so far they needed a change and District Two was undoubtedly after a win this year. The constantly competitive District had been gaining on District One for the total of the most victors, they were both tied at twelve currently, and pulling one of their tributes out of the arena would definitely earn them some glory. So Enobaria smiled charmingly with her pointed teeth and Brutus wiped the semi-permanent glare off his face as they invited Seneca to sit with them.

Xandra was in the midst of pulling an aggravated and unwilling Johanna towards the meeting. A task only made more difficult considering that she had to split her attention between the reluctant Johanna and a desperate to be included Toby. But, after telling him pointedly he'd hear everything anyway, he agreed to stay put. Joel lumbered towards the meeting, sitting next to Xandra silently; his remaining eye narrowed at Seneca Crane in general dislike. This look only intensified as Jet and Aurora joined them, both taking armchairs nearby, though the glare was not directed even partially at the latter. Clark and Jayda were the last to join them, silently placing themselves on the last available lounge in the circle, their bodies tense as they waited to hear what was going on.

Seneca Crane sat forward, stroking his comical beard as he began to explain, 'Now the six remaining tributes have divided into three set groups, yet it has come to our attention that each of these groups need something in order to progress further in the games.'

Clark, Aurora and Brutus each nodded in turn, knowing the need was facilitated by their tribute but Xandra who was undoubtedly the most experienced mentor of the lot understood the actual point of the meeting very quickly, 'You're throwing a feast, aren't you?'

Jet seemed quite surprised by this, and before Seneca could confirm or deny this he spoke up, 'I thought feasts were outlawed after what Aurora used hers to do.'

Before Aurora could react as violently as she intended to, the gamemaker spoke up very hastily, 'Yes they were but I've been able to get them a trial run once more in this year's games. As long as all the tributes _behave_ themselves, then it shouldn't be an issue and we can bring them back into regular events.'

'What are our limitations?'

Everyone was surprised to hear Clark speak; he'd been fairly quiet ever since he arrived in the Capitol. Not that anyone could blame him with him being forced to mentor his own niece. His tactics were sound and had kept Nakita alive for a very long time without having to face another tribute. Yet he knew what she must be going through, none but a victor could understand what it was like for a tribute. To know what a loved one was enduring was its own personal hell.

'The usual item restrictions have been reduced, though every item will need to be approved by me prior to it being placed in the arena. The amount needed to be raised has been reduced to half, and due to the new alliance between the tributes from one, seven and ten, cross district fundraising has also been permitted.'

Each of them victors nodded quietly, while Enobaria and Brutus looked highly annoyed at the last permittance, 'Any other questions?'

'How long have we got?' Joel asked quietly.

'You have three days before the items have to be given to me for approval,' Seneca instructed, before getting to his feet, nodding respectfully to the victors and strolling out.

Enobaria and Brutus hastily moved away from the group without so much as a word to the other mentors heading up to the living quarters. Not that it was really necessary for them to leave; it was obvious what they were going to fundraise for. They needed Seir back in the games, and this gave them the chance for it if he held out long enough. The mentors from District Five murmured a quick "good luck" to the other mentors, avoiding eye contact with Jet and Aurora as they did, before they moved away.

'What do you think that Nakita girl needs?' Johanna muttered, 'the girl has been fine on her own the whole games, she's armed and has plenty of supplies.'

'So she may not even leave her hideout to get whatever Clark sends her, she's not our top priority,' Xandra told her before turning to the other mentors still sitting around, 'Now, can you boys reduce your egos and testosterone levels enough to work with one another?'

'Or we could simplify the whole process and drop Jet into a bottomless chasm,' Joel commented lightly.

'I am not going to work with him-' Jet began only for Aurora to all too casually tip her wine over his head.

'Quiet you. I am not going to be the one to take the blame if Orion doesn't get out alive. Do you want to face his parents? Or Caelum?' she stated flatly and when Jet, still blinking the scarlet juice from his eyes, shook his head she continued, 'Good. Then start being helpful for once in your life.'

'Ha ha,' Johanna smirked.

Aurora smiled lightly and turned to the other mentors before saying somewhat formally, 'Now I know there are nearly always some issues between career districts and the others, but we can't focus on that right now. Orion, Lyra and Astra have officially formed an alliance, something we all suspected may happen since the games began.'

'I'm just surprised it took this long for it to happen,' Joel sighed.

'Exactly,' Aurora nodded, 'So we're going to have to work together, and figure out the best way to keep all three of them alive. We're going to have to come up with a plan for the feast, so we need to put our heads together. Now, has anyone got any ideas?'

**How the hell are we on Chapter Forty!? I mean it's only been… nearly three years… oh… right… whoops!**

_I guess time flies when we're having such fun._

**True, true, I mean, a lot of this is depressing but hey, it's fun!**

_Oh yes! We do so love all of this death and despair. _

**So, Nakita's our little alive person, forgot about her didn't you? *Moriarty voice* well that was kind of the point. **

_Unless of course you're on top of things and you didn't forget about her. In that case, well done you. _

**What do **_**you**_ **think will given at the feast? Also, what do you suspect Aurora did to almost get feasts cancelled? All this and more coming up soon on the Forbidden Year!**

_You know, when we decide to update again, which will be after I get back from overseas._

**At which point both of us will be starting uni soon afterwards so who knows how much time we'll have- NO! NO EXCUSES! I'M NOT LETTING THIS GO ON FOR FOUR YEARS! Alright, speed review response time! Chop chop! (Not the Greg version)**

**GreenPokeGuy: You don't get through the Hunger Games through being stupid (but if anyone can do it it's Orion) but yeah, we love writing strategy, so I'm glad you enjoyed it! Very dramatically is our hope! Having a knife thrown at your head could make anyone a little grumpy. You have such little faith in us, we've probably earned it… and this is about children killing each other… yeah, you're right, it probably won't go well. But thanks for sticking with us!**

_Residing Darkness: It is always nice to see a new face! Hello! Wouldn't we all tell him his beard is fabulous? You do karate? Nice! Hope to hear from you again! _

**DauntlessDuckling: Is a month and a bit too long? Probably, but no, hopefully it won't be too much longer till the next, we're getting close to the end so hopefully we can pump it out even faster! Thanks for your support!**

_Orion Ehra: Why does it annoy you greatly dear sir? Is it too long? There is no way to make a change of heart not cheesy. Trust us, we've tried. Personally I think experimentation is great. _**I have her on a leash! **_At least in the books they mention hunger. But eh, dying of hunger is boring. It just takes too long. Thank you for the review! _

**Ciaraaawrrr: Are you psychic? Or do you know us too well? Don't worry, we internally scream as well, we also internally cackle when we're about to be evil!**

_Well, we thank you for your reviews! And we hope that you enjoyed this latest update! _

_Tata._

_Ally :)_

**Keep being awesome, let us know who you're hoping survives now that you know the final six. And may the odds be ever in your favor!**

***Mockingjay whistle***

**~Selina**


	41. Dot Dot Dot

**_*dramatic trumpets* *confetti cannon* *streamers* *doves get released* *random cat kills dove*_**

**_BBBBBBIIIIIIIGGGGG AAAANNNNNNOOOOUUNNNNNNCEMMMMEEEENNNNTTTT!_**

**_(Kudos if you can actually read that)_**

**_A milestone has been reached! A fabulous 20,000 views has been received on this story (Only taken us four years... or is it eight, who can tell anymore) in honour of this incredible achievement, if we do say so ourselves we will be hosting a little competition with a fffaaabbbuuuullloooouuussss prize! Simply answer the following question and enter the running for exclusive The Forbidden Year material and a backstage peak at just what goes on in our funny little brains*:_**

**_With the exception of Lyra, Orion and Astra, who would be your ideal ally in the 73rd Hunger Games?  
><em>**

**_Must be an original character from this story, as much as we all want it to be Finnick, any other loopholes are yours to exploit._**

**_*Must be able to PM us your e-mail address to receive said prize._**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter Forty One: Dot Dot Dot...<span>**

Astra sighed deeply to herself as she rummaged through the contents of the latest parachute. It was a slightly larger bundle than what they were used to, predominantly because it contained clothes. Folded tightly into the parachute container was a new white jacket with the District one symbol emblazoned on the breast pocket, a thermal shirt and new white, thermal trousers. They were for Orion, evidently from someone who didn't want him freezing to death in his current bloodstained, ragged clothes.

She re-folded them neatly at the foot of his sleeping mat, before scooting back up to his side so she could readjust the blanket around his shoulders. He seemed to stir slightly at her touch, but quickly went still again. He was still to regain consciousness properly, having occasionally stirred for a few seconds or a minute, but never being fully aware.

After quickly checking the dressing on one of his wounds, and seeing that it was still clean, Astra smiled and moved away to check through their rather impressive pile of packs. Despite being in the Hunger Games, they were hardly short on food, as Lyra seemed to prefer being outside hunting, than being in the burrow with Astra and Orion. As such, they almost always had fresh game to add to the supplies which came with the packs.

She was midway through checking their supply of iodide when she heard Orion draw in a slightly deeper breath and shift slightly in his blankets. Turning back to him she saw, to her delight, that his eyes were open and he was dazedly looking around the burrow.

Abandoning her task she slid back to his side, 'hey there,' she said softly.

His eyes flicked to her face, 'Astra?' his voice cracked, barely making it above a weak whisper, but none the less, he was talking.

'Yes, it's me,' her smile grew, 'you're awake.'

He frowned faintly at that comment, before looking away, back around at the dimly lit burrow, 'where… where are we?'

'My burrow. I found it a while back,' she explained, watching him as he studied his surroundings.

'Greg?' she didn't think she imagined the faint spark of terror which flickered into his eyes.

Soothing him before he could really start to panic, she took his hand, 'you don't need to worry about him anymore. He's gone.'

Faintly, she felt his fingers curl a little tighter around hers and she saw his lips twitch into a weak smile as he relaxed. His eyelids drooped slightly for a second, before he seemed to shake himself awake again.

'Astra?' he looked up at her, 'I'm thirsty… do you…'

He didn't seem able to finish, his words slurring quite badly. But Astra smiled, understanding none the less. Retrieving a canteen from the corner of the burrow, she shifted him gently so she was supporting his head, allowing him to swallow the small trickle of water. Only allowing him to take small sips at a time, Astra patiently waited until he was finished before resting him back on the rolled up blankets which were acting as a pillow.

Absently brushing his hair, Astra saw his eyes flit to the just visible dressing on her shoulder. He frowned weakly and one of his hands twitched, as if he was trying to raise it from where it was resting on his stomach.

'You're hurt,' he whispered, not seeming to care about the comparison.

'Not badly,' she assured him, 'Don't worry about it Orion. You just go back to sleep now.'

'You'll stay?'

'Of course. Now sleep, I'll be right here if you need me.'

He appeared to nod faintly, but said nothing as his eyes closed and he quickly relaxed back into a deep sleep. Pulling the blankets back up around his chest, Astra took his hand in hers and sat back against the cave wall, closing her own eyes in relief. He was awake. He was going to be okay.

...

By the time Lyra slid into the burrow she was wet with snow, with two small rabbits slung over her shoulder. She glanced at Astra in acknowledgement before pulling a blanket from their pile and going back outside to gut the rabbits. Astra waited for a moment before deciding to go out with her, wiggling her way through the entrance on her stomach.

'How was the hunt?'

Lyra shrugged mildly, 'Didn't see anything interesting, still no signs of any other tributes.'

Astra nodded slightly, 'Ah… Orion woke up while you were out. You know, properly.'

'Is he delusional?'

'No, he seemed pretty with it, a little scared maybe but nothing serious. He was only up for a few minutes,' she explained carefully, trying not to look at the rabbit guts that Lyra was handling.

'How long do you think it'll be until he's up properly?' Lyra asked without the slightest tone of compassion or concern in her voice.

Astra thought for a long moment, trying to think what was reasonable, only to quickly realise that she had no idea, nor had she thought that far, 'I don't really know. I didn't expect him to even be awake this early, I figured it'd be another few days.'

Lyra rolled her eyes, 'You sure about that? Orion doesn't like being told what to do. Not by anyone, including medical science. Or the laws of nature. We need him up.'

'I know, but we can't rush him, hell he doesn't even know that you're here,' Astra tried, hearing Lyra's poisonous tone.

'What sort of time allowance do you think we're running on Astra? There are two groups left in the arena, they could force a stand off any minute, we can't just sit around and wait for Orion to _feel_ like helping. We need him up now!'

Astra stopped short at Lyra's exclamations, she knew that she had a point. She wasn't sure exactly how long they'd been in the arena, maybe a few weeks, but the Hunger Games had never lasted longer than a month. Orion needed to recover, but they just didn't have the time for it. If they had a full week left in the arena she'd be surprised, but if Orion could walk by then, let alone fight she'd be amazed.

'There's another.'

Lyra looked up from the rabbits, confused, 'What?'

Astra wasn't sure where the thought had come from, but she hadn't known how to respond to the last part of the sentence so her brain must have thrown it out there in consolation, 'There's only been eighteen cannons, there's six of us left in the game.'

'We've been through this before Astra. We're not getting anywhere in remembering who the hell this person is so they can't be too much of a threat.'

'On the contrary, they could be a massive threat.'

'If they were a threat I'd remember them,' Lyra insisted.

'Well that's what makes them such a problem. We can't remember them. We haven't heard from them at all in these games as far as I can remember. And we've been in here, what, three weeks?'

'Twenty days,' Lyra recited exhaustedly, but her brow furrowed slightly as if she was contemplating how quickly she had fallen apart.

'Exactly. We don't know who they are. What they can do. Where they are. And if we haven't seen them at all these games, that means chances are they aren't hurt. They've survived in this winter wasteland by themselves. They're a threat. If they've disappeared this easily, they could reappear at any moment, and stab us in the back.'

Lyra was scarily silent for a long moment before saying very simply, 'We need a plan.'

'Like what?'

'Like, Orion will fight Seir, I can… probably handle Kali, and you just help whoever looks like they're in the most danger… it's a patchy plan but it'll do, probably.'

Astra raised her hand tentatively, 'Question, what's Orion going to fight with?'

'Why did you raise your hand?' Lyra asked, quite perplexed.

'Interrupting you is a bad idea, but seriously. What is Orion going to fight with?'

'His katana,' Lyra said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Astra blanched slightly, 'Ah… about that...'

'Freaking hell.'

'I… forgot… Okay I didn't forget I just didn't think about them.'

'Why not?!' Lyra demanded on her feet very quickly, clutching one of the rabbits so tightly around the neck she might just kill it again.

'I was dragging an incapacitated teenage boy who weighs twice what I do and is probably double my height. That on top of facing a psychopath with only a rock for a weapon? I had bigger things on my mind. Like how best to smash his head in.'

'...You smashed his head in with a rock,' Lyra repeated flatly, eyebrows contracting.

Astra simply shrugged her off, 'What can I say, I'm good with headshots.'

'That's not funny.'

'It wasn't supposed to be.'

...

'How the hell do you expect us to get this much money together in time!? If we had a couple of weeks, sure, but the cut off is in two days!'

'You're screwed.'

'Thank you Johanna for that helpful contribution, but as I was saying, do we really need to give the boy both swords?!'

'Well they're hardly going to be katana if we only give him one-'

'They still are Aurora.'

'Shut up Jet, you don't get to tell me what to do.'

'Enough!'

Aurora and Jet looked away from each other like bickering three year olds as Joel unwillingly slunk back to his seat. Meanwhile, Xandra looked between the three of them, more than a little furious, directing an additional glare at Johanna for being unhelpful yet again. The teenager simply looked amused that she'd somehow caused yet another argument among the group. Xandra massaged her temples and Joel went back to muttering over the figures written on the small piece of paper in front of him; but several minutes later he groaned in frustration and smacked his head against the table.

'Even if we did just get him one… the amount that we need is more than I've ever collected for any other tribute.'

'That's because you're really not that good at this,' Jet drawled, earning him a forceful elbow to the ribs from Aurora, but not being deterred he added, 'Besides, may I just remind you that it was _your_ tribute who left them behind.'

A sudden rush of anger caused Joel to inadvertently snap the pen he was holding which began to leak all over the table, 'Excuse me?' he barked.

'You heard me,' Jet retorted smugly.

'It was_ your_ tribute who decided to trust a psychopath that he'd already been warned about!'

Aurora was making a face something along the lines of "he's got a point" but Jet wasn't backing down, '_Your_ tribute wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for mine.'

'Neither would yours!'

'Would the pair of you just shut up!?' Xandra yelled, 'I can sense another victor murders other victor story coming on and if you're not careful both of your corpses will have my name carved into them! Get your shit together! We all know that the first tribute to die if we don't get all these things together will be mine, so I don't know what you two are complaining about!'

An awkward silence followed as both Joel and Jet retreated to their seats looking sheepish and prickly before, and after a long moment, Aurora finally spoke up, 'Look, we can't do this right now, we don't have any time to waste and I don't know about you guys but I really don't have the energy. So we're just going to have to deal with whatever we have to. Playing the blame game isn't going to get us anywhere because we know all three of them are at fault for something. Now, we have to focus on getting as much money together as possible before the deadline, so Jet?'

'What?' he asked testily, like a child being told off by a school teacher.

'What do we need to do?'

'Why are you asking him?' Joel demanded, twitching with suppressed anger.

'Because manipulating people is what he does,' Aurora shrugged, 'Prime example being the all of two people he actually had to kill in his games. One practically committed suicide on his orders.'

Jet looked rather pleased with himself and every other victor glared at him intently, all of them having killed twice that if not more, 'What can I say? It's a gift.'

Joel glared at him and started muttering furiously under his breath but Aurora took charge once again, 'You got Finnick Odair his trident simply because you didn't like your own tribute. The sum of money for Orion's katana and the other gifts is less in total. You know how to get the money, what have you figured out?'

Jet just smiled for a lingering moment, waiting just long enough to see the other victors twitch with impatience before jerking a finger over his shoulder and simply saying, 'Him.'

…

Toby glanced backwards at Jet, mouth in a hard line, well aware that he was already attracting stares. He hadn't left the Training Centre since he had first broken in and now to be in the heart of the Capitol, in a huge courtyard filled with swarming people… It was almost too much, his senses overloading with all the sights, smells and sounds. Jet seemed to notice his apprehension and jerked his head forcefully to a group of Capitolites sitting nearby. They were possibly the loudest group in the plaza, sitting at the edge of a bustling café filled with avoxes waiting on them hand and foot. Even for the Capitol they screamed money, so with a sharp intake of breath he walked up to the group and hesitantly gestured to the only chair not occupied by the group.

'I'm sorry to interrupt, but is this seat taken at all?'

The Capitolites stopped short, all recognising him at once and he noticed as all of them synchronized their body language and leaned forward, 'Not at all,' one of them spoke in a shrill voice, their feathered eyelashes dancing as they blinked excitedly.

He inclined his head with a wary smile and pulled the seat a few feet away, before sitting down and watching the plaza dismally. He could still feel a lot of the Capitol people's eyes on him, but he was still trying to remember the systematic list that Jet had given him of what to do. "Let them come to you." He had to remind himself of it and said it over and over in his head until it became a steady mantra.

'Can we help you at all?'

He looked over like he hadn't even noticed them, and directed an exhausted smile at them, 'Oh no thanks, I'm fine, just needed some air.'

He could have almost smiled as he heard all of the Capitolites shift their chairs closer to him, but he pretended not to notice until one of them gripped his wrist, barely missing tearing his hand off with eight inch pink nails, 'Do you want to talk about it Toby?'

'I… ah...' he had forgotten what he was supposed to say next, but apparently his flusteredness seemed to have affected them correctly as the group all shuffled closer to him, bringing their table with them.

'You can talk to us, please, tell us what's on your mind.'

'Well… it's just...' he began shakily, 'With the feast coming up… I… The mentors… Johanna and Xandra… they've been talking about how we might not get enough funding for what we need… and I know… if anyone is going to take that hit it's going to be Lyra and I just can't-'

He broke off dramatically and there was a synchronised ripple of distressed noises from the Capitolites as they swarmed around them. Jet watched from a distance as Toby continued to speak, barely above a whisper for he didn't need to be any louder. He would occasionally catch a phrase or two like "I don't know what I'll do without her," and "it's just not fair after all she's been through." But Toby played them all expertly, he didn't have to ask them to sponsor Lyra, after this speech they'd lose their life savings trying to keep her alive. And Jet was more than willing to use that funding to stop Orion from doing something stupid again.

He observed Toby for several minutes before he decided that the Capitolites were well and truly invested before he made his move, 'There you are Toby.'

Toby well and truly jumped at Jet's approach, wondering if anything that he was doing was actually an act, 'Oh… I…'

'Don't get mad at him Jetty he's stressed,' purred one of the Capitol women stroking Toby's face who barely managed to contain his disgust.

Jet crouched down near Toby and began addressing him like a child, 'Look Toby you can't run off like this, Xandra's worried about you, and every moment we spend looking for you is a time we could be using to get Lyra sponsors. You need to come back with me, okay?'

Toby nodded pathetically and vaguely said goodbye to his new admirers, walking away with Jet. They were a few feet away when Toby lost the soppy expression and asked Jet:

'Did any of that _actually_ work?'

Jet simply laughed and said, 'Capitolites run like clockwork, completely predictable. Just give it 3… 2… 1...'

'Jet! Mr Ranalt!'

'Bingo.'

* * *

><p><strong>*Mysterious voice* The feast approaches…<strong>

_Let all beware!..._

**...Of the rotten tomatoes you must be throwing at us for not updating in so long.**

_We have gone longer…_

**Yeah, and for once it's actually my fault! Sorry guys, writer's block is a bitch!**

_Oh yeah._

**So let's move on and answer the reviews!**

_Orion Ehra: Eh, factual details. Who needs 'em. Because Greg is Greg and Greg is now unfortunately dead. Which is a shame, I will admit. I don't know why you keep on asking these questions, but they're interesting, so keep right at it. Yup, Ike will win. It is official._

**DauntlessDuckling: Can we take this opportunity to say how much of an incredible reviewer you are?**

_Kat-rue: We shall see, we shall see on both accounts._

**LittleShyCloud: We're happy to be your first and we love how positive you are about this fic, this really encouraged us to finish off the rest of the chapter so thank you so much! We really do try to make it somewhat conspicuous over who will win, especially now that Orion's injured it really could be anyone. Nakita's from District Five. We love Astra too, and thanks for the insight on Alcor, we don't get a lot of feedback on our former victor characters. Orion is quite naive in a way, and a bit of an idiot sometimes, I don't know quite what he was thinking, but it's probably to do with the point that he had spent so long thinking of the Capitol and Careers as evil he forgot it could come from anywhere. Definitely good questions, perhaps we will see, perhaps we will not, you never know what's going to happen! Thanks so much for this review and we really hope we'll hear from you again!**

_So, we thank you all for reading our humble fic._

**And hopefully we'll have a chapter for you soon!**

_So fare thee well. Remember to drop us a review with your opinion._

_:) Ally_

**And enter our contest to earn exclusive material that I make when I'm procrastinating! (See details above) Ciao Bellas!**

**~Selina**


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